The Astros have announced that Dusty Baker will return as manager in 2023, fresh off his first World Series title.
Baker helped lead Houston to a historic 2022 season, culminating in the franchise’s second World Series title, with the first coming in 2017. With a 106-56regular season record, the Astros had the best record in the American League and the second-best in the franchise’s history, winning their second straight AL West title. Houston went 11-2 in the postseason, including a 7-0 sweep of the American League Division Series and Championship Series. The Astros then came back from a 2-1 deficit in the World Series to win the series 4-2.
In three seasons in Space City, Dusty Baker has had a historic run. The Astros were able to reach the ALCS in 2020 even after dealing with a ton of injuries. Then the Astros advanced to the World Series in 2021 after winning the American League before dropping the Fall Classic to the Atlanta Braves. Now that Baker has helped the Astros across the finish line, he did it with a big help from his bullpen, which had the best ERA (2.80) in franchise history for a full season. This ERA was also the best in the league. Baker now has a combined record of 230-154 during his three years in Houston, which leads the AL.
Baker is now 28-14 in the postseason, good enough for the best playoff-winning percentage in franchise history. His 28 wins tie him with AJ Hinch for the most postseason wins in franchise history. Under Baker, the Astros have made three trips to the postseason, three trips to the ALCS, two AL pennants, and now a World Series championship.
In 2022, Baker became the 12th manager in MLB history to have 2,000 career wins and the first African-American manager to do so. Now at 2,093, Baker is 9th all-time on the wins list and fourth all-time in postseason wins with Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa being the three in front.