Houston – If you told someone in early 2020 that you would be a opposing manager in one of the two American League Division Series, you would be pretty surprised.
Dusty Baker has been out of the dugout since he was fired by the Nationals following the 2017 season. Tony La Russa retired from management after the Cardinals team won the World Series in 2011.
However, in January 2020, Baker was appointed manager of the Astros after AJ Hinch was fired following a fraudulent Houston scandal. After Rick Renteria was finished by the White Sox after that October season, La Russa unexpectedly escaped from retirement to manage the team 10 years after the dugout.
Now, with success, these two managers have participated in a historic match. The first two managers over the age of 70 faced each other in the playoff series. Baker turned 72 in June and La Russa turned 77 on Monday.
“I think he agrees that our bond has two good teams. If we both managed a team that wasn’t so good, we would I was watching it on TV, “La Russa said on Tuesday. “It’s important to recognize our good luck in joining these two teams.”
La Russa certainly inherited a talented young core studded with several veterans, and then to help the White Sox achieve 93 wins and the first American League Central District Championship since 2008. I had many injuries and navigated the club.
Baker took the Astros to ALCS during the shortened season of 2020 and helped Houston occupy AL West in a 95-win campaign. His team still has many players from the team’s 2017 World Series Championship, which has been under close scrutiny after the sign stealing scheme was announced in late 2019 and early 2020.
The team played seven times this season, with the Astros dominating the White Sox in Houston in June and SouthSider scoring 2-3 in Chicago in July after the All-Star Break.
But that’s just another chapter in the story of a pair of successful managers who have faced off many times in the past. They easily became teammates with the Braves in 1971, after which La Russa managed Baker in athletics in 1986.
Then, from 1996 to 2011, when La Russa was the Cardinals manager and Baker stopped by San Francisco, Chicago and Cincinnati, they squared many times in the National League. Meanwhile, there have been some verbal wars between the two, both with each other and in the media.
This included a memorable discussion between the two in a tense five-game series between the Cubs and Cardinals at Wrigley Field on September 3, 2003. After pitcher Matt Clement was hit on the pitch by Dan Haren in St. Louis, WGN cameras caught a pair screaming at each other.
The Cubs win the series 4-5 and beat the NL Central, while the La Russa Cardinals win the division in the next three years before Baker is let go after the 2006 season.
Despite some dust, La Russa claims that the pair is far away from the enemy.
“We’ve had a really good relationship all the time he started managing,” La Russa said. “The only problem I had was when we were in the same department and playing with each other. He was for his team, I was for my team, and sometimes sparks flew. It’s all understandable because you want to take care of your team and he takes care of him. “
In 2021, the manager match we saw a while ago will reapply.
Road to Socksses: Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa meet again
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