Prosperdick said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Difficult for me to express how disappointed I am that we only saw this starting lineup ONCE, this entire season. 😭😭😭#Astros 2023 pic.twitter.com/S7BNFxn9Yl

— Travis Taylor (@LeftyTravis) October 25, 2023

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Was that the lineup we scored 12 runs in 6 innings before we stopped trying? I'll never understand Dusty to this day that we had a lineup that absolutely raked like a motherf***er and he was like, "oh no, can't do that again."

He was just going keep sticking Maldy in the 9 hole and then try to rearrange 1-8 to try to capture some kind of magic. Just f***ing baffling.

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I guess it depends on what you define "raked like an mfer". That lineup had an 8 run 6th, with hitting as such:
Altuve 1-4
Pena 0-4
Yordan 2-3
Bregman 1-4
Tucker 2-3
Abreu 1-3
Brantley 1-3
McCormick 2-4
Diaz 1-3

Overall 11-31 (0.355)

Compare that to a previous game where we scored 10 runs in the first 4 innings with hitting as such:
Altuve 2-3
Bregman 0-2
Yordan 0-4
Tucker 0-4
Diaz 2-5
Dubon 1-3
Singleton 3-4
Pena 3-4
Maldy 3-5

Overall 14-34 (0.412)

Making assumptions about how good a lineup is based upon a single game is pretty dumb.

dcaggie04 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Difficult for me to express how disappointed I am that we only saw this starting lineup ONCE, this entire season. 😭😭😭#Astros 2023 pic.twitter.com/S7BNFxn9Yl

— Travis Taylor (@LeftyTravis) October 25, 2023

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Was that the lineup we scored 12 runs in 6 innings before we stopped trying? I'll never understand Dusty to this day that we had a lineup that absolutely raked like a motherf***er and he was like, "oh no, can't do that again."

He was just going keep sticking Maldy in the 9 hole and then try to rearrange 1-8 to try to capture some kind of magic. Just f***ing baffling.

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I guess it depends on what you define "raked like an mfer". That lineup had an 8 run 6th, with hitting as such:
Altuve 1-4
Pena 0-4
Yordan 2-3
Bregman 1-4
Tucker 2-3
Abreu 1-3
Brantley 1-3
McCormick 2-4
Diaz 1-3

Overall 11-31 (0.355)

Compare that to a previous game where we scored 10 runs in the first 4 innings with hitting as such:
Altuve 2-3
Bregman 0-2
Yordan 0-4
Tucker 0-4
Diaz 2-5
Dubon 1-3
Singleton 3-4
Pena 3-4
Maldy 3-5

Overall 14-34 (0.412)

Making assumptions about how good a lineup is based upon a single game is pretty dumb.

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Playing our best hitters
Which we did once

Is always the best idea

dcaggie04 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Difficult for me to express how disappointed I am that we only saw this starting lineup ONCE, this entire season. 😭😭😭#Astros 2023 pic.twitter.com/S7BNFxn9Yl

— Travis Taylor (@LeftyTravis) October 25, 2023

---

Was that the lineup we scored 12 runs in 6 innings before we stopped trying? I'll never understand Dusty to this day that we had a lineup that absolutely raked like a motherf***er and he was like, "oh no, can't do that again."

He was just going keep sticking Maldy in the 9 hole and then try to rearrange 1-8 to try to capture some kind of magic. Just f***ing baffling.

---

I guess it depends on what you define "raked like an mfer". That lineup had an 8 run 6th, with hitting as such:
Altuve 1-4
Pena 0-4
Yordan 2-3
Bregman 1-4
Tucker 2-3
Abreu 1-3
Brantley 1-3
McCormick 2-4
Diaz 1-3

Overall 11-31 (0.355)

Compare that to a previous game where we scored 10 runs in the first 4 innings with hitting as such:
Altuve 2-3
Bregman 0-2
Yordan 0-4
Tucker 0-4
Diaz 2-5
Dubon 1-3
Singleton 3-4
Pena 3-4
Maldy 3-5

Overall 14-34 (0.412)

Making assumptions about how good a lineup is based upon a single game is pretty dumb.

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You don't need to assume. You know it's a great lineup because it's your best players. Pretty simple.

Dusty Baker retires as Houston Astros manager after 26 seasons as MLB manager: 'I'm gone' https://t.co/1deOtz3jqm

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 25, 2023

Altuve had 112 hits in 90 games

he might have a couple of 175-hit seasons still left in him...to push toward 3,000 faster

It's over.

bigjag19 said:

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It's over.

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I knew it was coming, but it makes me feel a lot better to see it in black and white publicly

YESSSSSS

Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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Nope. Direct dig on this board.

Is 3 years of minor league considered never playing the game?

Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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I would say it's a dig at fans and media. He was pretty clear he didn't appreciate the arm chair managing this season in some of his final interviews

Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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He's talking about analytics guys.

Yes - that is absolutely a dig at analytics people and those who follow them (fans, media). After all, stats are just fan stuff and everything is feel for the game.

Dusty made his last stand and went down on that hill, so no surprise that his words would reflect that.

That is why I do not want him as special advisor in our organization because he could (like Bagwell) poison the well for our front office vs. Crane.

I think Dusty really ought to take an ambassador role with MLB - it would be the perfect fit for him as it would be using his true strength - the human side of the game, his breadth of history and knowledge, and the good favor he holds in all corners of the baseball world. It is just time for him to step away from decision making and advising.

Boiling Denim said:

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Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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I would say it's a dig at fans and media. He was pretty clear he didn't appreciate the arm chair managing this season in some of his final interviews

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Too bad, manage better then.

Beau Holder said:

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Boiling Denim said:

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Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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I would say it's a dig at fans and media. He was pretty clear he didn't appreciate the arm chair managing this season in some of his final interviews

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Too bad, manage better then chump.

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FIFY

Beau Holder said:

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Boiling Denim said:

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Willy Wonka said:

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When he says he's "got a lifetime of baseball knowledge, much more than someone who never played the game" is that a dig on Dana Brown who only played minor league ball for 3 yrs?

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I would say it's a dig at fans and media. He was pretty clear he didn't appreciate the arm chair managing this season in some of his final interviews

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Too bad, manage better then.

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He's going to really hate that Fangraphs article then. Oh, and see ya DB!

Same, MLB on Fax. Same.

you're like a year late on this

— FAX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFAX) October 25, 2023

So happy. So so happy.

Dusty got a title (congrats bro), and we now get to move on (one year too late).

Let's promote Espada, make Yainer the starter, sign some pitching, and win the ****ing World Series again!!!!

Damn, I'm jacked to the tits!!!!!!

CFTXAG10 said:

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Dusty Baker retires as Houston Astros manager after 26 seasons as MLB manager: 'I'm gone' https://t.co/1deOtz3jqm

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 25, 2023

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Good manager but not a great one. Helped us get the ring last season so will always be thankful for that. Did a great job defending the guys after the cheating scandal. Didn't take sht from anyone.

Happy retirement, Dusty!!

Next stop for Dusty will be Cooperstown.

Dusty is a great manager and an better even person. He's a shoe-in HOFer and a great ambassador for this game.

But he's old and the game has passed him by. He has no business filling out a lineup card and being in a dugout.

I'm glad he got a ring with us and was able to cross that off his list.

It's impossible to contend that we would have had a different ultimate outcome with a different manager. I'm not sure the postseason turns out much differently. What would have been VERY different, though, is the way the regular season turned out. I believe (as do many do here) that Dusty's stubbornness and decision making cost us a significant number of games. Was it as many as 10? I don't know. But I think we win the division by a considerable margin. I'm not sure playing Diaz most days in the playoffs gets us to the World Series, but his bat in games 1 and 2 could have made a significant impact. So it's plausible to think that Dusty DID cost us a defending title.

The most frustrating thing about this season is that we played with one hand tied behind our back for the entire year, and then it was way too late to do anything about it.

Dusty, where can I send my Thank You card?

Like most have said, the game has passed him by. I have 2 favorite memories of Dusty while he was here:
(1) "Get on the mound, you little ***ka" to Joe Kelly in 2020
(2) When Kyle Tucker caught the 3rd out of Game 6 of the World Series last year, Dusty had to finish his scorecard before celebrating.

Please not Brad Ausmus...

Can people please stop including Ausmus on these lists?

As I dozed off last night…I had a vision.

The Astros spend like crazy. The lineup gets filthy. Pena bounces back and becomes a bottom of the lineup terror for the coming years. Our Astros get one more title to make the dynasty engrained as one of the all time greats sometime over the next 3 years.

Sometime around 2027-2030 it turns into rebuild time… Dana moves on and Jim crane with 3 rings and no damns to give decides to run it back for the rebuild.

Final thoughts on Dusty:

Growing up a child and baseball fan of the 90s he was a very prominent figure and hard not to root for with those Bonds teams. I didn't start to realize his shortcomings until his Cubs stint and watching him struggle with their young staff. My feelings went from no longer rooting for him and more towards frustration with him and the gifts he squandered.

Fast forward to 2020.

He was the perfect hire for us imo. I don't think there's another manager who could have made 2020 a productive season. Followed up by 2021 which I think was a successful season derailed by the late LMJ injury. All that culminated in the perfect situation for Dusty in 2022: a healthy veteran roster with little conflict. This was his magnum opus and he could have rode off into the sunset as the stars finally aligned for him and he got his ring…

But a little greed and some poor management decisions led to 2023 and ended the way many of his seasons have before. With no care to adapt or take a different approach Dusty fell back on old ways and what he knew best and the final result was similar to a handful of his others with another Game 7 loss

All that said thanks for good times Dusty. Enjoy retirement. I wish you could have adapted a little more and created a truly dominant run but I'll take what we got any day of the week