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Dusty Baker Takes Job Managing Houston Astros in Midst of the Electronic Sign Stealing Scandal

Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros have agreed to terms making him the next manager of the Texas team. This is his fifth manager position within Major League Baseball, but first time managing in the American League. Baker previously managed the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Washington Nationals all in the National League of the MLB.

While managing in the big leagues, Baker was named the National League Manager of the Year three times. The first in 1993 with the San Francisco Giants, the second time in 1997 with the Giants, and again for the third time in San Francisco for the 2000 MLB regular season. He and Barry Bonds led the Giants to the World Series in 2002, but his team did not win that series as the Anaheim Angels had a magical year winning the 2002 World Series in 7 crazy games.

While with the Chicago Cubs Dusty Baker took them to the brink of winning the National League pennant in 2003, before that historic meltdown took place in Chicago where the team was up 3 games to one game before losing the last three consecutive contests to the Florida Marlins at that time. His stints with the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals were both fairly unsuccessful.

Now the Astros are asking Baker to step in and manage their team who just fired their previous manager, AJ Hinch, after Major League Baseball suspended him for the 2020 MLB season due to the Astros involvement in electronic sign stealing scandal during the 2017 season in which Houston won the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven dramatic games.

Dusty Baker Takes Job Managing Houston Astros in Midst of the Electronic Sign Stealing Scandal

Baker has a great core of solid baseball players, but let’s see how they play without cheating anymore. It will be interesting to see if these young mostly Hispanic ball players of the Houston Astros respond to the old managerial style of Dusty Baker as a long time African American baseball manager in the MLB.

Baseball Playing Career:

Dusty Baker graced Major League Baseball as a player from his start in 1968 with the Atlanta Braves (1968 – 1975) up until 1986 with the Oakland Athletics (1985 – 1986). He also played the outfield for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976 to 1983 and the San Francisco Giants in 1984. Baker carried a career batting average of .278, with 242 career home runs, as well as 1,013 career runs batted in. Dusty was named to the MLB All Star team twice (1981, 1982). He was a World Series Champion in 1981 with the LA Dodgers. In 1977, he was voted the NLCS MVP. Baker won the Gold Glove Award in 1981, and the Silver Slugger Award in 1980 and 1981.

Big League Managerial Record:

San Francisco Giants (1993 – 2002)   840 Wins – 715 Loses

Chicago Cubs (2003 – 2006)   322 Wins – 326 Loses

Cincinnati Reds (2008 – 2013)   509 Wins – 463 Loses

Washington Nationals (2016 – 2017)   192 Wins – 132 Loses

Houston Astros (2020 – ?)    N/A

Managerial Statistics:

Rk Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% T G Finish Wpost Lpost W-L%post Challenges Overturned Overturn% Ejections
1 1993 44 San Francisco Giants NL 103 59 .636 0 162 2 0 0 1
2 1994 45 San Francisco Giants NL 55 60 .478 0 115 2 0 0 2
3 1995 46 San Francisco Giants NL 67 77 .465 0 144 4 0 0 1
4 1996 47 San Francisco Giants NL 68 94 .420 0 162 4 0 0 2
5 1997 48 San Francisco Giants NL 90 72 .556 0 162 1 0 3 .000 1
6 1998 49 San Francisco Giants NL 89 74 .546 0 163 2 0 0 0
7 1999 50 San Francisco Giants NL 86 76 .531 0 162 2 0 0 1
8 2000 51 San Francisco Giants NL 97 65 .599 0 162 1 1 3 .250 0
9 2001 52 San Francisco Giants NL 90 72 .556 0 162 2 0 0 1
10 2002 53 San Francisco Giants NL 95 66 .590 1 162 2 10 7 .588 2 NL Pennant
11 2003 54 Chicago Cubs NL 88 74 .543 0 162 1 6 6 .500 0
12 2004 55 Chicago Cubs NL 89 73 .549 0 162 3 0 0 3
13 2005 56 Chicago Cubs NL 79 83 .488 0 162 4 0 0 0
14 2006 57 Chicago Cubs NL 66 96 .407 0 162 6 0 0 1
15 2008 59 Cincinnati Reds NL 74 88 .457 0 162 5 0 0 1
16 2009 60 Cincinnati Reds NL 78 84 .481 0 162 4 0 0 1
17 2010 61 Cincinnati Reds NL 91 71 .562 0 162 1 0 3 .000 2
18 2011 62 Cincinnati Reds NL 79 83 .488 0 162 3 0 0 1
19 2012 63 Cincinnati Reds NL 97 65 .599 0 162 1 2 3 .400 0
20 2013 64 Cincinnati Reds NL 90 72 .556 0 162 3 0 1 .000 0
21 2016 67 Washington Nationals NL 95 67 .586 0 162 1 2 3 .400 47 19 40.4% 0
22 2017 68 Washington Nationals NL 97 65 .599 0 162 1 2 3 .400 32 12 37.5% 1
San Francisco Giants 10 years 840 715 .540 1 1556 2.2 11 13 .458 11 1 Pennant
Chicago Cubs 4 years 322 326 .497 0 648 3.5 6 6 .500 4
Cincinnati Reds 6 years 509 463 .524 0 972 2.8 2 7 .222 5
Washington Nationals 2 years 192 132 .593 0 324 1.0 4 6 .400 79 31 39.2%% 1
22 years 1863 1636 .532 1 3500 2.5 23 32 .418 79 31 39.2%% 21 1 Pennant

Managerial Tendencies:

Stealing 2nd Stealing 3rd Sac Bunts Intentional Walks Substitutions
Rk Year Age Tm Lg G Ch Att Rate Rate+ Ch Att Rate Rate+ Ch Att Rate Rate+ PA IBB Rate Rate+ PH/G PH/G+ PR/G PR/G+ P/G P/G+
1 1993 44 SFG NL 162 1414 130 9.2% 88 995 21 2.1% 88 1355 46 3.4% 138 6077 46 0.8% 89 1.36 92 0.14 84 3.6 106
2 1994 45 SFG NL 115 1017 122 12.0% 114 658 18 2.7% 143 928 29 3.1% 150 4369 40 0.9% 102 1.44 96 0.18 106 3.5 103
3 1995 46 SFG NL 144 1213 134 11.0% 108 945 21 2.2% 74 1216 44 3.6% 152 5672 51 0.9% 114 1.51 98 0.17 115 3.6 102
4 1996 47 SFG NL 162 1387 133 9.6% 94 1033 22 2.1% 82 1369 36 2.6% 129 6330 60 0.9% 113 1.39 89 0.10 59 3.6 103
5 1997 48 SFG NL 162 1438 161 11.2% 104 996 22 2.2% 87 1418 33 2.3% 100 6284 57 0.9% 128 1.48 96 0.12 62 4.0 112
6 1998 49 SFG NL 163 1417 136 9.6% 109 1051 14 1.3% 70 1455 31 2.1% 87 6362 68 1.1% 167 1.39 92 0.12 78 3.7 107
7 1999 50 SFG NL 162 1484 153 10.3% 102 1099 18 1.6% 69 1452 32 2.2% 106 6430 41 0.6% 95 1.69 110 0.13 80 3.8 105
8 2000 51 SFG NL 162 1412 104 7.4% 86 984 14 1.4% 87 1378 29 2.1% 113 6270 26 0.4% 57 1.50 100 0.17 85 3.4 95
9 2001 52 SFG NL 162 1382 96 6.9% 79 1006 13 1.3% 79 1372 24 1.7% 77 6294 49 0.8% 91 1.51 101 0.20 105 3.7 100
10 2002 53 SFG NL 162 1372 94 6.9% 78 968 8 0.8% 49 1338 24 1.8% 73 6056 44 0.7% 76 1.43 94 0.19 109 3.6 94
11 2003 54 CHC NL 162 1369 99 7.2% 100 993 8 0.8% 59 1378 36 2.6% 123 6227 36 0.6% 73 1.54 104 0.12 80 3.6 94
12 2004 55 CHC NL 162 1317 105 8.0% 102 964 11 1.1% 76 1240 46 3.7% 147 6262 33 0.5% 61 1.51 101 0.16 90 3.8 99
13 2005 56 CHC NL 162 1365 107 7.8% 102 959 13 1.4% 98 1281 38 3.0% 117 6185 48 0.8% 101 1.40 93 0.13 78 3.8 101
14 2006 57 CHC NL 162 1309 137 10.5% 122 952 15 1.6% 109 1272 39 3.1% 130 6366 44 0.7% 79 1.49 98 0.09 51 4.3 109
15 2008 59 CIN NL 162 1355 108 8.0% 109 1010 18 1.8% 98 1346 28 2.1% 111 6352 40 0.6% 80 1.59 99 0.13 83 4.1 102
16 2009 60 CIN NL 162 1296 116 9.0% 118 980 16 1.6% 102 1337 37 2.8% 139 6253 36 0.6% 74 1.48 97 0.09 82 4.0 98
17 2010 61 CIN NL 162 1402 109 7.8% 91 994 13 1.3% 93 1350 27 2.0% 102 6182 32 0.5% 67 1.53 100 0.09 71 4.1 102
18 2011 62 CIN NL 162 1378 112 8.1% 87 1028 16 1.6% 87 1357 29 2.1% 95 6259 47 0.8% 96 1.44 96 0.17 96 4.1 102
19 2012 63 CIN NL 162 1313 111 8.5% 91 912 17 1.9% 92 1192 19 1.6% 91 6056 33 0.5% 88 1.38 91 0.14 99 3.6 89
20 2013 64 CIN NL 162 1316 75 5.7% 79 954 12 1.3% 82 1270 31 2.4% 128 6077 28 0.5% 76 1.49 102 0.11 95 3.8 96
21 2016 67 WSN NL 162 1330 90 6.8% 86 906 27 3.0% 141 1267 17 1.3% 103 6036 43 0.7% 110 1.35 89 0.12 96 4.1 96
22 2017 68 WSN NL 162 1280 100 7.8% 111 868 25 2.9% 180 1180 7 0.6% 51 6068 39 0.6% 102 1.38 88 0.13 124 4.0 94
SFG (10 years) 1556 13536 1263 9.3% 96 9735 171 1.8% 81 13281 328 2.5% 110 60144 482 0.8% 101 1.47 97 0.15 87 3.6 103
CHC (4 years) 648 5360 448 8.4% 107 3868 47 1.2% 85 5171 159 3.1% 129 25040 161 0.6% 78 1.48 99 0.13 75 3.9 101
CIN (6 years) 972 8060 631 7.8% 95 5878 92 1.6% 93 7852 171 2.2% 111 37179 216 0.6% 80 1.48 98 0.12 88 4.0 98
WSN (2 years) 324 2610 190 7.3% 97 1774 52 2.9% 157 2447 24 1.0% 80 12104 82 0.7% 106 1.36 88 0.12 108 4.1 95
22 years 3500 29566 2532 8.6% 98 21255 362 1.7% 91 28751 682 2.4% 113 134467 941 0.7% 91 1.47 97 0.13 86 3.8 100

Media Statements:

“You got to go forward and make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” Baker goes on to say, “It certainly is not going to happen on my watch here, and I don’t foresee it happening ever again because this has been an embarrassment for a lot of people.”

“I was happy, but I wasn’t satisfied, where I was and what I was doing because something’s missing,” Dusty explained. “And I think the Lord gave me the best chance to accomplish what I need as a person, as a father, and as a man.”

“Dusty’s a person of high integrity and he’s a respected leader,” says owner of the Houston Astros Jim Crane. “He has great baseball experience, and he will earn the players’ trust.”

“Hiring Dusty Baker is one big step for us to move forward,” Crane proclaimed. “And I believe Dusty is the right person at the right time.”

“This is my last hurrah,” says Baker. “And I thought my last hurrah was in Washington, actually, because I gave all my stuff away. I went to find my shoes, went up to the attic and I found the empty bag. … So this is a new beginning for me.”

“We’re going to go with what we have because it’s pretty good,” Dusty responded.

“But I’m hoping that what we do will motivate other coaches and players to try to strive to get to where I am,” says Baker. “And also hopefully this will incite other owners to say, ‘Hey man, these guys are pretty good at what they do, these guys are the best.”’