What his coach didn’t know was that Baker was quiet as he listened. He was listening to his father and mother, as well as his late brother and his late friend Don Baylor and Hank Aaron. He asked another late friend, his old fireballer J.R. Richard, for a good slider he or he two for Ryan Presley, who was close to ninth.
And when the final slider finally came and Nick Castellanos flew it into foul territory and Kyle Tucker caught it, Baker found himself pinned to the side of the Astros dugout, As his players rushed onto the field to celebrate, he was attacked by his coach. Not only that, but everyone seemed to forget that he had achieved it at the age of 73.
Espada said, “I was telling everyone not to kill him. But we wanted to hug him.”
His players hugged him. Fans chanted his name. One of his fans in front of right field held a sign that read, “Date with Dustiny,” and that’s probably exactly what it was. Baker later said he felt, after all the hiring and firing, near misses and long waits, that it was going to be his third World Series attempt, 20 years after his first.
“It’s not a relief,” said Baker. “It’s just joy and gratitude.”
Ultimately, the winning formula was simple. Flamber Valdez pitched his sixth inning in the lead. Jordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer in the sixth to give the Astros the lead. Their bullpen held it. The Astros finished the postseason with two losses en route to his second title in six years. You can weather the storm inherited.
Whether or not this win deserves redemption for the Astros’ tainted 2017 title is a matter of collective baseball consciousness, which rarely agrees on many things. But one thing it does agree with is Baker, a beloved presence in the sport. He’s not a perfect human being and he’s been brought up many times since he’s been here. The Astros made a mistake, he said. But so are all those who boo them. So does he.
Luckily, perfection doesn’t pay off in baseball. It rewards resilience. it reveals the truth. And the truth about Baker, whose directing career has lasted three decades, is that few people in the game have such universal respect.
“He deserves it more than anyone on the planet,” said Dan Filova, his bullpen coach. Baker plucked him from his long Mexican League manager career to help the Washington Nationals’ six-man staff. I had never had a big league coaching job when I added him to…a few years ago. From then on, he stayed with him all the way until he went to the champagne-soaked Worlds clubhouse for his series in Houston on Saturday night.
After years of waiting, it took Baker himself some time to return to that clubhouse after the final game. He was on stage when the crowd roared for him. He joined Fox’s broadcast team, lit the field on his set, and David He got a long hug from Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Frank Thomas. He went to his MLB Network set and chatted with some players until someone patted him on the back. It was his son, Darren, his 3-year-old Batboy when Baker first entered his series at the Worlds with his Giants in San Francisco 20 years ago. Then Darren was the little kid who had to be harmed home at his plate by Giants first baseman JT Snow. Now he’s a minor leaguer for the Nationals, and he’s totally aware of what that means.
“My son, my city, the world, there are so many people who are happy for us,” Baker said as he finally joined the clubhouse celebration, with goggles and champagne the size of Darren. Endured in a bottle. 2002.
Since that year, Baker has wondered if his decision to pull starting pitcher Russ Ortiz out of the decisive Game 6 would be his lingering World Series legacy. The Giants’ bullpen failed to hold the lead that Baker handed over that year. His father then told him he might never get another chance. he talks about it a lot. He said he hoped the series would end in Game 6 on Saturday to beat his nemesis.
But as it happens, Valdes didn’t force Baker to make a similar decision on Saturday. The lefty started Saturday by allowing a total of three earned runs in his three starts in this year’s postseason. He left Saturday after allowing four earned runs in four postseason starts this year. At one point, he struck out the first five batters in a row in the Phillies’ order. This is the second left-hander in World Series history. The other was a man named Sandy Koufax.
But Phillies starter Zach Wheeler matched him nearly every step on Saturday night. They both pitched in the fifth inning, let alone scoring, without allowing the runner to reach third base. In fact, Valdez was the first to blink when he allowed Kyle Schwarber to undoubtedly home run in the top of the sixth.
The Astros then brought in two players at the end of the inning. Phillies manager Rob Thomson had to decide how best to maintain his lead in a potentially decisive World Series game. Or go to the reliever and cross your fingers.
And since Alvarez was the first hitter Jose Alvarado faced, it was Thomson who had been wondering for years. Alvarez, one of the best hitters in baseball this season, has been conspicuously absent offensively since his series in the division, but in center field he hit his three-run homer in 450 feet. was released.
Baker was furthest from home plate when Alvarez returned to the dugout. He usually camps near home his plate, but when the offense is struggling, he heads in another direction—what he calls the “hit spot.”
Alvarez went all the way down, climbed the stairs, and exchanged high fives with Baker. Legend has it that Baker invented this move during his playing days. Baker’s life was not short of legend. In fact, apart from his series wins at Worlds as a manager, he lacked very little.
“I thought a lot. I tried not to dwell on it, but like I know that with faith and perseverance and with the right team and the right people and all the right things, this is going to happen.” “If this had happened years ago, I might not be here. It could have happened, so maybe it shouldn’t have happened.
Baker’s list of influences is the same list of people he says he was influenced by. And it may still grow. Baker isn’t under contract for next season, but he says he wants to manage.
“But we have to win one first,” Baker said Saturday night. “It was hell to get here. But it was worth it.”
