Astros fan favorite manager returning for 2026 World Baseball Classic
Not in Houston, but back in the game of baseball.
The charismatic 76-year-old manager that managed the Astros past the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2022 World Series was announced as the manager for the Nicaragua national baseball team in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the MLB announced Monday in an official post on their X platform.
Baker, a two-time All-Star who also won the 1981 World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers, started his managing career in 1993, seven years after retiring from his playing days. He would manage the San Francisco Giants, winning NL Manager of the Year three times in 1993, 1997, and 2000, and led the team to the 2002 World Series, where they would fall to the Anaheim Angels in a full seven-game series.
After his time in The Bay was up, he would manage the Chicago Cubs from 2003 to 2006, before sitting out the 2007 season and then managing the Cincinnati Reds from 2008 to 2013.
After another short sabbatical, Baker would manage the Washington Nationals in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, both of which saw the team clinch the divisional title, before coming on as the Astros manager in 2020, leading them to the World Series in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, victorious in the latter.
After retiring following the 2023 season when the Astros were eliminated in the American League Championship Series by the eventual World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, Baker would go on to join the Giants' front office as a Special Advisor to Baseball Operations.
Baker's 2,183 managerial wins rank seventh-most in MLB history, and the most all-time by an African American manager.
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