Astros’ Dusty Baker Becomes 12th Manager to Win 2,000 Career Games | Bleacher Report

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Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker joined an exclusive club Tuesday by helping lead his team to a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Baker became the 12th manager in MLB history to win 2,000 games in his career. Jon Heyman of MLB Network noted every other manager on the list is in the Hall of Fame except for Bruce Bochy, who is not yet eligible to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

He also became the first Black manager to hit the milestone.

The 2,000th win featured a little bit of everything with Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve providing the offense with home runs and a combined effort from the pitching staff shutting down Seattle’s bats.

Starter Cristian Javier allowed just two hits in 5.1 innings, while Blake Taylor, Phil Maton and Bryan Abreu combined to close the door for the remaining 3.2 frames.

Houston improved to 13-11 and is 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the early American League West standings.

As for Baker, it is just a matter of time before he catches Bochy, who is 11th on the list with 2,003 victories. Connie Mack is the all-time leader with 3,731, and Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa is in second place and earned his 2,831st win Tuesday with a victory over the Chicago Cubs.

This is just another accomplishment on Baker’s already Hall of Fame-caliber resume that includes three Manager of the Year awards and two World Series appearances. He has managed the San Francisco Giants, Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and Astros during a career that started in 1993 and has a 2,000-1,745 record.

He led the Astros to the 2021 World Series and Giants to the 2002 Fall Classic but fell short of the championship both times.

A World Series crown is about the only thing missing in his career, and he will look to change that this season with some history already in his back pocket.