The Houston Astros are beginning their search for their next manager after Dusty Baker retired following the season.
He had a great run with the Astros and added to his already Hall of Fame career by winning his first ever World Series title in 2022.
General manager Dana Brown has said they won't rush any decision about who will be their next manager and will go through a thorough process before deciding.
While there was speculation throughout the entire year that Baker would retire at the end of the season, he has shared what ultimately made him choose to call it a career.
On "The Steam Room" podcast with Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson, Houston's former manager said, "We had a lot of success here, Ernie and Charles, and then the last couple of months here weren’t very pleasant, because we weren’t 10 games ahead. You spoil people. They think you’re supposed to win this every year running away and it’s not like that. Every year’s different."
Criticism comes with the job, something that Baker certainly knows as a MLB manager for 26 years.
But he didn't like who was criticizing him.
"There was a whole bunch of criticism from 30-year-olds and bloggers and tweeters that I’m not doing this and I don’t know that and I told my wife, 'You know, I’m kind of tired of this and tired of the scrutiny and if I could go manage and show up at say 6:30 for a 7 o’clock game and leave 30 minutes after the game, don’t do the (pregame and postgame interviews), I could manage for another four or five years,'" he told Barkley and Johnson.
Other factors certainly played a role in his decision to step away as well.
"You see a lot of your friends dying, and you haven’t even really enjoyed your life away from the game. You factor all that in and you start thinking about it and you’re like, 'OK, the Lord’s been good to me,'" he said.
Baker had a legendary run with Houston, winning three AL West titles in four years, two American League pennants an one World Series championship.
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