WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Dusty Baker wore blue-white-and-orange wristbands with his name and image on them, pulled tight over his still-powerful forearms. Orange batting gloves covered his extra-large hands. And his shoes? On point as always. That is, if sneakers that are orange, red, teal and green with navy blue lettering on them — yes, all the same time — can possibly look good.
On Baker, they did. He’s just cool like that.
He’s also 73 and, last season, became the oldest manager to win a World Series in major league history.
Why in the heck is he still doing this? What’s left to achieve? Hasn’t he at least had enough of sweating day after day in the spring-training sun?
“I guess I don’t think about it,” he said. “I just live my life.”
Life on a third straight one-year contract with the mega-talented Astros isn’t bad at all.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” he said. “There are more people comping me meals now. They’re sending me drinks. You know what I mean? I almost feel like Tommy Lasorda. That’s an inside joke, if you didn’t get it, because he didn’t pay for anything. I feel guilty when people comp me. I do.”
Conversations with Baker never fail to deliver. This one started with him ribbing, “Get out of the shade, man. You’ve got to come out here [in the sun] like the rest of us.”
It was March 1, which happened to be his late mother’s birthday. Christine Baker died last year at 90.
“I’d always send her flowers and a gift on this day,” he said.
Even after getting the World Series monkey off his back, Baker had the desire to keep going, which came as a surprise to some. There’s no sign whatsoever that he isn’t up to the task and no reason to assume this season — his 24th as a skipper, four of them (2003 to 2006) with the Cubs — will be his swan song.
Dusty Baker at Astros camp.
Baker has his health, a wonderful thing, and was reminded by a reporter of a harrowing day in Chicago in 2012 when that was far from the case. At Wrigley Field and managing the Reds, Baker wasn’t feeling well and received attention from a team trainer, who then summoned longtime Cubs physician Dr. Stephen Adams.
“ ‘Doc’ looked at me and made me get in his car,” Baker said, and they were off to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Baker was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. While being discharged, he had a stroke and received immediate care, minimizing the effects and enabling him to make a full recovery and quickly return to the dugout.
The Cubs announced Adams’ retirement a couple of weeks ago, after his five-plus decades of affiliation with the club.
“He helped save my life,” Baker said, wishing Adams well.
A more current Chicago connection: the fresh arrival of former White Sox slugger Jose Abreu, whom the Astros signed for three years and $58.5 million.
“He doesn’t say much,” Baker said. “He smiles a lot, though. He doesn’t say much, but he pays attention to everything. And these guys make everybody feel welcome, but especially a guy like him.”
During Baker’s Cincinnati years, which followed his Cubs years, a Reds clubhouse manager would bring him a lineup card to keep every time he passed a Hall of Fame manager in career wins. He passed Whitey Herzog, Al Lopez, Earl Weaver, Dick Williams and, yes, even Lasorda. But all that was a long time ago; Baker finished with the Reds in 2013.
He has passed several more since while managing with the Nationals and the Astros, and has climbed all the way to 10th on the all-time list with 2,022. He will pass Walter Alston with his 19th win of 2023. A mere 104 wins — too many for one season? — would get him past Joe McCarthy.
Regardless, the Hall of Fame question no longer is asked in regard to Baker. Tony La Russa, No. 2 in wins, said it should have been a done deal even before Baker got his first ring as a manager. Whether it was or wasn’t, it is now — he’s headed to Cooperstown.
But not yet. He still has work to do.
“Yeah, I’m doing it,” he said. “I was looking forward to this.”
