Astros owner Jim Crane on Dusty Baker: "You can’t win 106 games. You can’t win a World Series without a great manager"

Finally, Dusty Baker has finally won it all. The legendary skipper has now won the World Series both as a player and as a manager. Baker won the 1981 World Series as a player during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yesterday, he cemented his name alongside the all-time greats after winning it as head coach.

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, who gave an interview right after the Astros' World Series win, was quick to acknowledge and praise Baker's brilliance.

“You can’t win 106 games. You can’t win a World Series without a great manager.” - excerpt from Houston Astros' owner Jim Crane's interview with KPRC 2 Houston

Crane has stated that he plans to discuss the contracts of Baker and general manager James Click (whose contracts are up) after the team's victory parade.

Dusty Baker makes history

Dusty Baker leads all African-American managers with 2,093 career wins.

With his 2022 World Series win as skipper, Dusty Baker became just the seventh man ever to win the Fall Classic both as a head coach and as a player. He is now in the same company that includes Lou Pinella, Alex Cora, Joe Girardi, Dave Roberts, Mike Scioscia, and Davey Johnson.

Baker also broke the record for the longest gap time in between World Series title wins, be it as a manager or a player. The legendary skipper waited 40 years since his last title win, breaking Bob Lemon's 29 year wait after the latter won it all as a player in 1948 for Cleveland and in 1978 as the manager of the New York Yankees.