(Reuters) – Dusty Baker will manage the Houston Astros again next year after the veteran skipper and the World Series runners-up agreed to a one-year contract, the team announced on Friday.
Baker led the team to the American League Championship Series in 2020 and the World Series this season before falling to the Atlanta Braves in the Fall Classic on Tuesday.
Baker has been at the helm of five teams during his 24-year managerial career but has yet to win a title in that role. He won a championship as a player for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.
Overall he has a .534 winning percentage and has won three Manager of the Year Awards.
After the 4-2 series loss to the Braves, Baker said he wanted to come back to finish what he started.
“I’ve still got some unfinished business,” he said.
“I mean, I love these guys over here. I love the town of Houston. The fans are behind us.”
The 72-year-old Baker joined the Astros in January 2020 to replace A.J. Hinch, who was fired in the wake of the team’s sign-stealing scandal.
An MLB probe revealed in January 2020 that Astros employees watched a feed from a center field camera to decode signs, and banged on a trash can to tell batters what pitches to expect during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The Astros won the World Series in 2017 and were allowed by MLB to keep the title.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
