Ex-Giants skipper Baker finally wins World Series as manager

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Dusty Baker finally can call himself a World Series champion as a manager.

After 25 years patrolling dugouts, Baker won his first World Series as a manager on Saturday night as the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in Game 6 at Minute Maid Park.

Baker, at 73 years and 143 days old, is the oldest manager in the four major American professional sports to win a championship.

Shortly after Kyle Tucker secured the final out of the World Series, Astros star Jose Altuve spoke to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about what Baker has meant to Houston.

“He means everything,” Altuve told Rosenthal. “Like I said many, many times, he came here at the right time, came here with the right team and won his first World Series.”

Baker had been on the losing end in his two previous trips to the World Series as a manager -- 2002 with the Giants and last year with the Astros.

Baker appeared in three World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers, losing in 1977 and 1978 before winning a ring in 1981.

Baker entered the 2022 World Series with 2,093 career regular season wins, the most by a manager without a championship to his name. That stat is no more.

When Baker was let go by the Washington Nationals after the 2017 season, it appeared as if he would fall short of reaching 2,000 managerial wins and winning a World Series. But the Astros came calling in 2020 after they fired A.J. Hinch in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

That call from Houston, a perennial contender, gave Baker a chance at both career goals, and he checked both off this season as the Astros won an American League-best 106 games.

“I mean, I got 2,000 wins and all they talk about is I haven’t won the World Series yet, you know?” Baker recently told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. “So, yeah, it matters. It matters to the people. It matters to us.”

RELATED: Bochy ready to renew battles with Baker in AL West

Baker joins Cito Gaston (Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993) and Dave Roberts (Dodgers in 2020) as the third African American manager to win a World Series.

Baker already was considered one of the greatest managers in MLB history despite not having a World Series win. But guiding the Astros to their second title in franchise history cements his legacy as one of the best to ever do it.

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