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The accolades for the Houston Astros keep coming with Dusty Baker being nominated for American League Manager of the Year and pitcher Luis Garcia being named a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year, according to MLB.com.
Baker, 72, had his contract renewed with the Astros after a 95-win season where Houston won the division, but lost in the World Series in six games to the Atlanta Braves. It was the third World Series trip in five years for the Astros, with the team winning in 2017. Baker was hired by Houston two years ago and has led the team to the American League Championship Series and one World Series. However, the title has been elusive as he has never won a World Series in 24 years as a manager. He did, however, win as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.
“The unfinished business is to win the World Series, not only for me, but for the organization as well,” Baker said in an interview with MLB.com. “We’ve been to the World Series the last couple of times and had a good year, but not a great year. These guys were very disappointed, but they also know we’ll be back.”
Baker needs only 13 wins to reach 2,000 victories, which is a milestone that just adds to his resume to get him to Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ten of the 11 managers who have 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame. Baker is 12th all time in wins. He was the National League Manager of the Year with the San Francisco Giants in 1993, 1997 and 2000.
“My main goal is to win the pennant,” Baker said in an interview with MLB.com. “If you win the pennant, everything else takes care of itself.”
Other nominees include Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners. The winner will be announced Nov. 16.
Garcia had a great rookie season going 11-8 with a 3.48 ERA in 28 starts, and 30 games in total. He was the rookie leader in wins, WAR at 3.1, innings pitched with 155 1/3 and strikeouts with 167. His strikeout total was the second highest ever by an Astro rookie.
Other finalists include Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco, both of the Tampa Bay Rays.