Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (74) expressed his admiration for opposing manager Bruce Bochy (68).
“He’s a very straightforward guy,” Baker said in a press conference before Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on Saturday (June 16). I really respect him,” Baker said of his opponent.
The two veteran managers are set to go head-to-head in the Championship Series. Baker has 53 career wins in the postseason, while Bochy has 49. Only three managers have won more postseason games than them – Bobby Cox (84), Tony La Russa (71), and Bobby Cox (67).먹튀검증
According to Major League Baseball, this is the fifth time managers with more than 1,500 career wins have faced each other in the postseason, following Cox and La Russa in 2000, Lou Pinella and Joe Torre in 2008, La Russa and Torre in 2009, and Baker and La Russa in 2021.
“He’s an honest guy, we talked on the phone when he retired and now we’re talking again after he came out of retirement,” Baker said with a laugh when asked by a reporter if Bochy told him he came out of retirement because he saw how well you were doing in Houston.
“When he retired, I remember asking him, ‘How many drinks and rocking chairs did you get?’ I said to him, ‘It’s great to have you back. I wish I could have gone to another district with Coach Maddux,'” he said. It was kind of a gesture of respect,” he said of the conversation between the two.
The two coaches, Baker and Bochy, battled fiercely throughout the regular season, with both teams finishing with 90 wins apiece. Based on head-to-head records, Houston won the district and Texas took the wild card.
Although Houston had a 9-4 lead in the regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks advanced to the championship series by defeating the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished ahead of them in the season series.
“It’s a new season,” Baker said. I’ve been in a lot of different situations as a player and as a manager. As a player, I remember losing 10 out of 12 games against the Phillies and then sweeping them in the playoffs. It’s a whole new time, a whole new day. We’ll try to use (the regular-season record) to our advantage, but the important thing is today.”
When asked about momentum in the postseason, he said, “Psychologically, mentally, it’s different. Baseball is a mental game. When you feel good about yourself or look good in your uniform, you usually play better than when you don’t, but you can’t afford to be mentally down for a couple days on the field. This is a very exciting time. Momentum is important. Momentum is important, and it usually depends on who’s on the mound and how he’s performing,” he said.
Both Bochy and Baker will have their work cut out for them. This will be another interesting series to watch.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said, “They’re both really good with the players. They’re both ‘ballplayer-type’ managers who understand the players. The players love playing for these veteran managers. And they’re both really nice guys. It’s going to be a really special matchup. It’s going to be a dogfight, but they’re both very skilled managers. It’s going to be good for baseball,” he said of the matchup between the two veteran managers.