No one was sad when the Astros lost.
The Astros are the Cheating Team, and they lost in the ALCS, and that’s good. They don’t have that many players left from the 2017 squad, but as an organization, they won a World Series by cheating, then never really got punished, and then won another World Series.
Well, I guess Astros fans were sad, but no one cares about them.
Everyone was sad for Dusty Baker, though. Just like everyone was happy for Bruce Bochy last night.
Dusty is a widely beloved person in baseball circles, admired for his knowledge, his love of the game, his long history in baseball, and his ability to lead a group of men through a long, arduous regular season.
Bruce Bochy is in a similar situation, except he also wins in October.
We’ll come back to Bochy soon — congrats on your fourth ring, Bruce, by the way. I know you’re a big fan — but I want to take a minute to think about Dusty. He was a fantastic player, and a phenomenal manager. Assuming that he’s done managing — not necessarily the case, even though he is unequivocally done with managing the Astros — we can reflect on his incredible legacy in baseball.
Because Dusty did it all. Two-time All-Star player. 1981 World Series champion. Great hitting coach. Great manager. Led the Giants to a 103-win season in 1993, a stunning turnaround in 1997, two division titles, and an NL pennant. Led the Cubs to the NLCS, led the Reds and Nationals to the NLDS, won multiple division titles with the Astros and took them to four straight ALCSes, one of which ended in a World Series victory. Chewed tons of toothpicks. Invented the high five. INVENTED THE GODDAMN HIGH FIVE.
What more is there in baseball? What more could someone accomplish? Dusty has checked every box, passed every test. He’s had a full life and a full career, become respected and celebrated, idolized and venerated. He has two rings, one as a player, and one as a manager. That’s it, right? That’s everything. That’s enough.
Well…
The thing is…
If we’re being honest, that postseason monkey isn’t entirely off Dusty’s back, at least in the public perception. I don’t know how he ever felt about it (I would assume he was not happy not having a title to his credit as a manger, but he and I have never discussed the matter), but from the outside, it was like, sure, he got one, but there should have been more. That postseason thing was still missing.
When the Astros went up against the Rangers in the ALCS this year, the general vibe was that Bochy was magic and Dusty wasn’t. This was before the series, and at the beginning of it. It abated a bit when the Astros got their third win, but came back in force as the Rangers earned their third and fourth wins to head to the World Series and prevent the Astros from doing the same.
As good as Dusty Baker is, was the feeling, he’s not that good at this.
And somehow, Bruce Bochy seems to be built for it. Bochy pulls the right levers, makes the right calls, pulls the starters at the right time, uses the right relievers except for that one time in 2016, and manages the way he should manage. He loses Max Scherzer after just three innings in the World Series and says fine; he loses Adolis Garcia, the best player all postseason, during the third game of the World Series and the team doesn’t skip a beat. The team was designed to have Jacob deGrom shore up its postseason rotation, but oh well. Martín Pérez was supposed to be an anchor in the rotation this year after an All-Star 2022, but oh well.
And even with all of that, the team just went out and won, and honestly, people kind of expected them to. It wasn’t a fait accompli that they would get past the Orioles or Astros, of course, but once they had the tiniest bit of momentum, the feeling was that, yeah, it’s Bochy, he’s got this. Not to take anything away from the players, of course, who do all of the actual work, but the other teams also had players, and the confidence level was not the same.
That’s what Bochy has. He has that mystique that comes from having won so many championships before.
That’s what Dusty doesn’t have. That’s what he can’t have, because he’s lost so many times. It’s not fair to him. Winning once is a massive accomplishment, but like the ‘90s Braves, only winning once means he’ll always have that whiff of Yeah, he’s good…until October. If you’ve been around for his managerial career, it’ll always be there in the back of your mind, that Dusty probably could have won one or two more, and if you’re a Giants fan, there’s a good change you’re thinking of one World Series in particular1.
But the good news is this: for new fans of the game, younger fans, that won’t be his legacy. Imagine a manager from the ‘60s who was great in the regular season but didn’t win a World Series. Now imagine a manager from the ‘60s who had regular season success but won exactly one World Series. That guy seems pretty good, right? Nothing lacking in his resume!
With time, all those other failures will fall away. They will not matter. They’ll be part of the story — Dusty didn’t win a run until his 25th season as a manager! Wow! — but not in a negative way. They’ll tell a story of perseverence, how he kept going until he finally reached the Promised Land. It’ll become a baseball legend: If you’re good, and you keep on keepin’ on, one day this will happen to you.
Dusty’s legacy is complete, but at the edges there is a tiny hint of what could have been. How there could have been more. I don’t think it’s right to think that, but it’s there. The presence of Bruce Bochy, who got more, is proof that it’s possible. The fact that Bruce Bochy is a massive outlier (not just in head size, hey-o!) should be more relevant here.
Winning once is incredible. Winning once is enough. There will just always be someone who has more than you. I bet Dusty’s made his peace with that. Good. He deserves it.
2003! He could have had revenge on the Marlins for ‘97! Alas, it was not to be.
I agree with all this. Dusty and I are both from Sacramento; we will only fly so high. Bruce was born in France - he has that je ne sais quois.
Maestro - do you think most peeps will get the 'Pancho and Lefty' riff?
You're welcome!