AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 19, 2023

Dusty Baker

Globe Life Field

Houston Astros

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Do you think you could come back with the three high-leverage relievers that pitched last night -- Neris, Abreu, and Pressly -- just overall, and any idea of their status today?

DUSTY BAKER: Not yet. Because I haven't talked to my pitching coach who throws with them early every day to give me a report on their status. So, yeah, we'd like to hopefully use some other guys that haven't pitched, but the game dictates what we do.

Q. What have you thought of the defense in this series, especially last night with the two catchers in the outfield that both teams made, how much of a difference maker has that been?

DUSTY BAKER: That's huge. Defense puts you in a position to make outs. I mean, if Brantley didn't catch that ball, they have a run, and who knows how many more runs they might have scored after that. Those things come in cycles.

And their guy Taveras saved a big run on the home run. Bregman made some great plays. And to me a play that went unnoticed was the play that Altuve made on Carter's Baltimore chop, because that was a very tough play.

Q. The roof is going to be open tonight. Will it make any difference to you and your team?

DUSTY BAKER: We really don't know. But we were fortunate enough to work out here prior to this series, which helps some. We were told that there was an agreement that we wouldn't have the roof open in either place. And so I don't know what changed.

Q. Tonight Altuve becomes the seventh player in history to play a hundred playoff games, and exactly half of them have been under you. What does that say about a player to reach a milestone like that?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, it means you've been on a good team for a while and that you have quite a bit to do with your team being there for a while. That's a lot of games. He's certainly not overwhelmed or fazed by playing in these games. If I were Altuve, I would feel very, very, very comfortable playing in each and every one of these games.

Q. Regarding the roof, who was that agreement between and when did you get word and how was that decided?

DUSTY BAKER: I don't know, man. I got word prior to us coming here that there was an agreement that both sides would close their roofs. So that's above me.

Q. The Baseball Era Committee for managers, executives and umpires released their Hall of Fame finalists today. Cito Gaston is one of them. What kind of impact did he have on you as a mentor, as player and a manager when you broke in?

DUSTY BAKER: That's a good question. I was 18 years old, broke in in Austin, Texas, with Cito. Cito was four or five years older than me. I think he was in San Antonio, Texas.

And he really helped me, him and Ralph Garr, on how to deal with being in the South, a young kid from California in the '60s. He took me with him everywhere. And then we played on the Braves together. And then he got drafted by the Padres in expansion draft, and we remained friends. And then I took the same course he took in managing.

And so we talk quite often. Which is one reason I came back, because I said I wanted to do the Cito Gaston, which means you went back-to-back. And that's probably one of the main reasons I came back, was because of Cito.

Q. Talking to Darren and he says every year he gets to do this with you he appreciates it a little more, not that you're getting older or anything. But he's learning to appreciate it more. Can you speak to what it means having him here? And can you not talk ball? Is it a bit of a distraction having him around or do you always talk ball?

DUSTY BAKER: No, no, no, it's not a distraction at all. I love having my son around. It was great the last couple of years. He was actually my roommate in Spring Training. And he chose to be my roommate. I don't know if I would have chose to be my dad's roommate at that age. But we've got a good relationship.

He's been a part of playoffs in the World Series since he was three years old. And so he feels that this is kind of where he belongs and where he's here to support me and support the team. He's always felt as a kid that he was a good luck charm. And so he's been pretty good.