MLB Playoffs: Cito Gaston and Dusty Baker and their lifelong friendship

The former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston calls out Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, one of his best friends. In addition to playing and managing baseball, they both love to fish. Their friendship dates back to 1967, when they played with Double-A Austin, then a Braves affiliate.

The 77-year-old Gaston desperately wants Baker to win his first World Series title as a manager. If that happens, Baker will become the third African-American coach to win the title. Gaston was the first to win the Fall Classic with Toronto in 1992-93, followed by the Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, last year:

If Baker doesn’t win the World Series this year, Gaston still thinks Baker is a Hall of Famer. Gaston notes that Baker has won 1,987 regular-season games, eight division titles and a pennant in 24 seasons as manager.

The last time Baker and Gaston spoke was Thursday morning, two days after the Astros advanced to the American League Championship Series. While the conversation was pleasant, Baker informed Gaston that Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. would not pitch in the ALCS due to a strained right pronator flexor muscle.

There is a chance McCullers will be ready for the World Series, if Houston reaches it. The Astros and Red Sox are tied in the American League Championship Series at one game each.

After Baker became the manager of the Astros in 2020, one of the first calls he received came from Gaston, who calmed Baker after he became a professional baseball player 54 years ago. Growing up in California, Baker was not used to hearing racial slurs like the ones he received on his first day of professional baseball.

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Baker was really trainable and ended up having a productive career as a player and manager. Most of his playing career was spent with the Braves and the Dodgers, with whom he was a two-time All-Star. Let’s not forget that he was also Manager of the Year three times.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and a reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services at Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and after a few days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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