Astros owe 2022 World Series title to Dusty Baker’s guts over numbers

En route to winning the World Series with the Houston Astros in 2022, there definitely appeared to be times that season where it was clear manager Dusty Baker was not aligned with the moves the front office had planned for that year. One of those instances was a 2022 trade deadline deal that went by the wayside. Despite a framework of a deal for the Cubs' catcher Willson Contreras being agreed to in principle, the Astros backed out of the deal due to Baker and owner Jim Crane not being on board with giving up starting pitcher José Urquidy.

As it turns out, the move for Contreras wasn't the only idea that Baker had to turn his nose at. In a book set to be released by Scott Miller titled “Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter (and Always Will),”Baker highlighted other moments when he clashed with the Astros' front office. Baker told Miller that he pushed back when the front office suggested lineup changes, adding that he front office was not in favor of Yuli Gurriel or Martin Maldonado playing.

The Astros' front office was operating through a lens that focus on numbers, but for Baker, they didn't tell the full story.

I’m a numbers man, too. I’ve always used numbers. Always.," Baker told Miller. “But I don’t use them 100 percent. There are no absolutes in this game, period. Whether I go with my feelings or whether I go with numbers, there are no absolutes because the opposition can change your absolute formula by a homer or blooper or walk or whatever it is.”

"In Dusty, We Trusty" may have been proven to be absolutely right

Of course, the Astros' World Series win in 2022 was the lone World Series victory of Baker's managerial career. Baker got close several times, including a 2003 postseason run with the Chicago Cubs. During the season with the Cubs, one of the popular mottos echoed by Cubs fans was "in dusty, we trusty".

Above all else, the manager's primary responsibility is the pull the right levels at the right time. In this case, despite what the data suggested, Baker did that very thing, and the Astros have a World Series title because of it.

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