AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 15, 2023

Dusty Baker

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. I've been asking a couple of guys about the deep runs you have had. This is your fourth with this team. How do these guys keep themselves mentally focused and also the physical, as well, going so deep into October and November year after year?

DUSTY BAKER: Number one, they take good care of themselves. We have a nutritionist and trainers that keep them strong and healthy. And they expect to be here. And whoever comes in from outside, whoever comes in up from the Minor Leagues, they kind of follow suit.

We have some tremendous leaders on this team -- Altuve, by example; Bregman; Alvarez; Abreu in his own quiet way; Michael Brantley. These guys show everybody else the way. Maldy. Tuck, he's quiet, but he comes to play, and he comes to play every day.

Q. Can you talk about what Abreu, Jose, has meant to the team, especially late? You kept saying early, wait, he's going to be okay. Can you talk about what he's meant.

DUSTY BAKER: The reason why I said he was going to be okay is because he thought he was going to be okay. And he's not a guy that shows worry, even though we were worried early. He kept saying, hey, I'll be okay, I'll be okay.

So when a guy shows that kind of confidence and calmness and consistent personality, then it's easier to follow suit.

He's been great down the stretch. I mean, September, drove in -- he broke our record for RBIs, which a lot of times is underrated, but you can't win without RBIs, and certain guys know how to drive in runs. You look at Miguel Cabrera, the great hitters, Barry Bonds. And look at Abreu through his career. He knows how to drive in runs even when he's not hitting. So that's big.

And the guys, I mean, they love him. That means a lot when you're coming from another team and you're not doing what you want to do or what people expect you to do but the guys still love you. They know that he's busting his butt every day for us.

Q. How much, if at all, do you feel crowd noise affects these playoff games?

DUSTY BAKER: I think it affects it a lot. I mean, not the crowd noise as much as the energy that's produced from the crowd noise. And hopefully you get the crowd into it as soon as possible on your side and you try to take them out, the crowd noise out, by performance against you.

These guys are entertainers. They thrive on the energy in the building which is very difficult. The difference between now and the COVID year, when there was nobody in the stands. It was a totally different kind of feeling and ballgame. And you've got to produce all this on your own. But with the crowd, they help send you some positive energy and positive -- a lot of positive results come from there.

Q. Having Abreu in the cleanup spot today, is that more a product of the series against the Twins or wanting to break up your left-handers?

DUSTY BAKER: No, we got a left-hander today. They've got five left-handers in the bullpen. And even though our left-handers hit left-handers well, you know, you'd rather not have them just make it easier on Bochy bringing lefty after lefty after lefty.

So then tomorrow probably go back to Tuck and Alvarez back to back for the need to try to get to Eovaldi as soon as possible before they even get to the bullpen. So it was just a matter of trying to break them up and Abreu performing well. Because this is what my original lineup was supposed to be on paper.

Q. With Yordan and Tucker, does it neutralize any kind of bullpen advantage having those big guys that can hit lefties well, or can they mix and match as usual?

DUSTY BAKER: You mean the opposition? They're going to mix and match. You can count it. And Bruce knows what he's doing mixing and matching. He's got five different kind of left-handers. He has some power. You've got some -- you've got some finesse, you've got some combination guys. So you know how I love left-handers.

Q. You've worked with Mike Maddux before. Talk about what he does?

DUSTY BAKER: Oh, yeah, I worked with him. He does his homework. I've had some good ones -- Dave Righetti, Ron Perranoski, Dick Pole -- and he's one of the best that I've had when I worked with him. He's prepared.

And our guy, Dan Firova, our quality control coach, was a bullpen coach over there who worked with him. And also Gary Pettis knows him well from working with him in Texas.

And he'll try to neutralize your strength and try to pitch to your weakness as often as possible. He does his homework. He knows what he's doing.

The pitching coach is so very, very important in this equation, theirs and ours, and the catcher to follow whatever course the pitching coach wants to take him and use what the guy is doing that day on the mound, what he's getting over the plate.

We all have a game plan, but sometimes you have to vary away from the game plan depending if a guy is not getting his breaking ball over, this guy's weakness might be breaking balls, but you keep forcing them, and then you'll get behind and have to come in with a fastball or walk guys, trying to get to a guy's weakness.

At some point in time you've got to go -- depending on the game situation, you have to go strength on strength.

Q. Regular season went 9-4 against the Rangers. On the National League side, Braves win 8-5 against the Phillies, Dodgers win 8-5 against the Diamondbacks, but both lost convincingly. Does that kind of serve as a reminder to your players to not take the regular season results too seriously going into the postseason?

DUSTY BAKER: Our guys don't do that. This is a new season. I've been on teams as a player and manager that were handled by the opposition and we end up beating them, or when I was a player I think we beat -- the Phillies beat us 10 out of 12 times and then we swept them in the playoffs.

So it's a new time and new day. You try to use that to your advantage. But today is what counts.

Q. Just want to ask you about momentum. These past few years we've seen Wild Card teams make runs. In the regular season you hear momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher. Is momentum a different thing in the postseason? How would you characterize that?

DUSTY BAKER: It's a different feeling psychologically and mentally. This game is so mental. If you feel good about yourself or you look good in uniform then you most likely perform better than days when you don't feel. But you can't afford to have any down days mentally out on the field. And so it's an exciting time. And momentum is important. Momentum is basically controlled by who's on the mound and how they perform.

Q. You and Bruce are two of the elder statesmen in the game. Yesterday he said probably one of the reasons he got a shot to manage again is because you were managing and doing so well here at Houston. What do you think of that?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, Bruce is a pretty honest dude, you know. He is, he's very honest. And I got respect for Bruce. And I talked to Bruce and called him after he retired. And then I talked to Bruce after he unretired.

The thing that I remember talking to him about was when he retired how many bottles of booze he got and how many rocking chairs he got, you know. And I just told him, hey, I'm glad that you're back, I wish you went to another division, him and Maddux. This is some of the respect I've got for him.