MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

November 2, 2021

Dusty Baker

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Postgame 6 Press Conference

Atlanta - 7, Houston - 0

Q. How tough is this loss just to take the World Series? Especially for you personally, getting this close and coming up short?

DUSTY BAKER: Yes, it's tough big time. They played great. We couldn't keep them in the ballpark. We walked somebody, then that led to the crooked-number innings. The pitching shut us down.

First, I'd like to say congratulations to Brian Snitker and the Braves and the talented Atlanta.

Yeah, it's tough, but you know something, you've got to keep on trucking, and that gives you even more incentive next year. It's tough to take now, but this too shall pass. I mean, it really hurts, but it's over.

Q. Dusty, do you believe that you'll be managing this team next year? Do you want to manage this team next year?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, because I've still got some unfinished business. I mean, I love these guys over here. I love the town of Houston. The fans are behind us.

These guys, they gave it their all. They played through adversity, through a lot of stuff this whole year. We just kind of ran out of gas pitching-wise. I mean, our guys, nobody complained, nobody alibied, you know. And I'm not going to alibi. We got outplayed tonight.

What can you do? Except go home, take a shower, figure out how you're going to come back and win it next year. Look, last year we got one game short of the World Series, and this year we were two games short of the championship. So I guess that's progress.

Q. Dusty, are you surprised at all at the lack of power? Just the fact there were just two home runs from Altuve, and nobody else was hitting home runs in this series?

DUSTY BAKER: No, they were pitching us tough. I mean, they were pitching us real tough. You've got to give them credit for pitching this tough. They scouted us big time. Yordan couldn't continue killing the ball the way he was in the previous series.

I don't know what the tally was, but they hit the ball out of the ballpark on us, and that's what they relied on. That's what they kind of relied on all year, some walks, they got two-out hits, and some homers. They hit more homers in our park than we did, and usually that doesn't happen.

Q. If this does turn out to be the end of Carlos Correa's tenure with the Astros, what do you think you'll remember most about managing him?

DUSTY BAKER: I hope it's not, that it's not over yet. He's a professional. He's a real leader. Like I said, he doesn't give an alibi or any excuses. You just comes out and plays the game the way he's supposed to play it.

He's a gladiator. He's a warrior but a gentleman at the same time. I can tell how our guys gravitate towards him. I can tell even how the opposition always shows respect for him, especially when they're around second base. Win or lose, he doesn't clown. He doesn't showboat. He just plays the game the way it should be played.

Q. Specifically with this game, what did you see from Fried, just after the spike play in the first inning, how he was able to settle in and get into a groove?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, he came out throwing fastballs where the last time he came out throwing mostly breaking balls. He was locating that fastball. That 3-0 lead really ignited him. I mean, you know he's capable of those kind of games. He threw a great game against us.

Q. Dusty, you came in this position, runner-up World Series, in 2002. I just wonder how long does it take to get over a tough World Series loss like this, and do you ever really get over it?

DUSTY BAKER: I think you get over it. Other people don't let you get over it. And other people don't get over it. To me, we did all we could to get to this point. I mean, I had a bunch of young guys that have never been in this situation. They played, like I'm proud of these guys. I'm real proud of these guys.

Quite frankly, this one doesn't hurt quite as much as the first one did because the first one, I thought we had that one, you know what I mean? More than this one. When you've got to come back and come back. The last one, we had the lead in the series. This one we didn't.

And I remember Tom Lasorda, after that loss, he reminded me that our first two trips with the Dodgers, '77 and '78, that we lost. Then we came back and won '81.

I feel bad. I feel terrible because I'm not really ready to go home. I haven't been home since I left in February, so you know I must love these guys and love what I'm doing. I mean, when's the last time you weren't home -- it's dang near -- I looked on the calendar today, and it's almost Thanksgiving. It's okay. It's okay.

Q. Dusty, a little bit more on the younger players, especially the pitchers, Garcia, Urquidy, Valdez, Javier. Just what were you able to see from them? How encouraging is it? I mean, there were bumps along the way, but they just had really good performances. What did you see from them?

DUSTY BAKER: What I saw was progress. As a parent or a teacher or a manager or coach, what you like to see is progress. You hate to see them just stay the same. These guys, they're in a position that most young guys won't be in and some old guys never were in it in the first place.

So I told them hold your head up. I didn't have a team meeting. I just went around to each guy and said, hey, man, take a little time off, and then you go back to work. Go back to work because you see how long this road is to get to this point. So we've just got to come back and do just a little bit more.

Q. With the score being as lopsided as it was, what did you see from the guys throughout the game in terms of body language? Could you see them kind of wearing the emotions on their face? What was it like in the dugout?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, in the dugout, I mean, the guys still thought we had a chance. Nobody else might have thought we had a chance, but you get a walk and another walk, a hit, boom, boom, boom. These guys didn't cash it in at all. This is -- there's no give up in these guys.

It's okay. Like I said, we'll be back.