Dusty Baker’s baseball career is coming to an end according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, Dusty Baker has informed Houston Astros’ owner Jim Crane that he is retiring from baseball.

Baker played in MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers. During his Dodgers tenure, he was a two-time All-Star, won two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove Award, and became the first NLCS MVP, which he received during the 1977 National League Championship Series. He also made three World Series appearances, winning one in 1981.

After retiring as a player, Baker served as the manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2002, the Chicago Cubs from 2003 to 2006, the Cincinnati Reds from 2008 to 2013, Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2017, and Houston Astros from 2020 to 2023.

Baker has been the manager of the Astros since 2020. Of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL, Baker is the oldest manager to win a championship, having won the 2022 World Series with the Astros.

He is also the first MLB manager to reach the playoffs and win a division title with five different teams, having accomplished both feats with each team he managed. Baker ranks eighth in MLB managerial wins and has the most wins among African-American managers.

Dusty Baker was named the new manager of the Washington Nationals on November 3, 2015. He was hired to replace Matt Williams after a deal with Bud Black fell through.

During Baker’s time here in Washington, the Nationals won the NL East in Baker's first season with 95 wins (a twelve-game improvement), which was the third time the team had won the NL East in the last five seasons. However, the Nationals lost in the NLDS in five games against the Los Angeles Dodgers after losing Game 4 and Game 5 (in the latter game, the Nationals gave up four runs in the seventh inning in a 4–3 loss).

The following season, Baker led the Nationals to another NL East Championship. However, their postseason was once again cut short after losing in the 2017 NLDS to the Chicago Cubs in five games. Game 5 saw the Nationals lead 4–1 by the time of the second inning, but the game turned wildly in the fifth inning with four runs that were all scored on two outs, which included multiple hits, a passed ball, an error, catcher's interference, and a hit batter. While the Nationals tried to rally, the Cubs prevailed 9–8.

The fifth game was the tenth time in fourteen years that a Baker-managed team had lost a "close-out" game with the opportunity to advance to the next round of the playoffs, which was a record; in both NLDS matchups, the Nationals had outscored their opponent but lost the series. On October 20, 2017, the Nationals announced that Baker and his entire coaching staff would not return as the team's manager in 2018.

Congratulations Dusty on a great baseball career.


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