The regular season is coming to close and the final playoff standings are beginning to form.
Every manager that will arrive in the playoffs will prepare their team for a potential World Series run. However, there are two managers that have more experience in the playoffs, and are both ready to push for their second championship.
MLBro managers Dave Roberts and Dusty Baker have already solidified playoff spots for their teams and are looking forward to October baseball.
Dave Roberts Just Wins & Wins
Dodgers manager Roberts led his team to a World Series title in the Covid-shortened 2020 season.
Although Roberts is a proven manager, he has won only one of three World Series appearances that his team has been to. With all of the talent that he has had, and his unprecedented regular season success, expectations are still high for him as fans and media alike believe that he is more than capable of leading the team to another ring.
Currently, the Atlanta Braves sit as the favorite to win the National League Pennant, but do not underestimate the longevity and professionalism of Roberts and his Dodgers team.
MLBbro Dusty Baker brought legitimacy back to the Houston Astros organization, after a few years of chaos following their cheating scandal which many fans believe led to their 2017 World Series win.
Many believed that the Astros run was over, but Dusty with his vast experience rallied the team together for a surprise World Series run last season. Long has he been a great manager, but last fall cemented his legacy amongst the elite.
A repeat as World Series champion would place him in a totally separate elite category. He could join MLBbro Cito Gatson as the only other African-American manager to win back-to-back World Series titles.
Dusty Baker Going For Back-To-Back World Series Rings
Both of these MLBbro managers have experienced great success. Dave Roberts has never won less than 91 games in seven full seasons as manager. Dusty is an icon and the pride of Black Baseball.
He’s the only manager to win a division with five different teams. And over the last 30 years he’s accumulated 2.179 wins, good for seventh place all-time just behind Sparky Anderson, who he should pass in 2024 if Dusty decided to manage again, and Joe Torre (2,326).
A dream scenario would be to see the two MLBbros meeting up against each in the Fall classic.
An appearance for the Astros would mark Dusty’s club winning three straight American League pennants, a feat that has not happened since the New York Yankees did it from 1998-2000. Roberts helped the Dodgers to the franchise’s 10th NL West crown in 11 seasons.
There is no guarantee that either manager will end up in the World Series, but one thing we can be sure of is that both MLBbros will have their teams prepared and ready for the challenge.
We spoke to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts around his 50th birthday in May. Roberts’ Dodgers didn’t win the World Series, but he had many accomplishments, from leading his team to a franchise-record 111 wins (becoming just the fifth team in AL/NL history to win that many games in one season) to moving up the postseason all-time wins list.
Mark Gray gives Houston Astros skipper Dusty Baker his propers. The MLBbro managerial GOAT won his first World Series as a manager after 25 years of service where he’s taken a record five teams to the playoffs. He also collected 1981 hits and smashed 242 Bro bombs.
Former MLBbro Bryant Nelson sees Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker and envisions being in the same spot in the future. Nelson, who was drafted by the Astros in 1992, wants to be a Major League manager, too. That’s why he has started his journey to become a coach in The Show.
Just Two Black Full-Time MLB Managers
Baker and Dave Roberts from the Los Angeles Dodgers are the only two current Black managers in the game. It’s a fair question when some ask what steps need to be taken to have more diversity in the dugout and in the front office.
MLB Diversity Scout and Coaching Development Program
Last week, Nelson completed the second year of the MLB Diversity Scout and Coaching Development Program. “My dream has always been to be a manager,” Bryant said. “I was drafted as a pitcher. I played six different positions. “I switch-hit. There isn’t much within the game I haven’t done. I know I could help a lot of guys.”
Nelson was in professional baseball for 23 years, starting in the Astros’ minor league system. He would have stints with three other minor league clubs before making his Major League debut in 2002 with the Boston Red Sox.
Nelson never got the chance to have a breakout kind of season in order to stick long term. He batted .265 in 25 games with the BoSox. That was his career in the Bigs. But he kept playing all over the world – with stops in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and Italy.
Make no mistake about it, however, Nelson did damage in the minors at home. Before hanging up his cleats, Nelson became the all-time hits leader in the Atlantic League. Thought his career, Nelson displayed elite contact skills. He batted .284 during 11 seasons in the minors and never struck out more than 52 times in any season.
Bryant, 48, is currently seeking to transition into professional coaching, combining the skills he developed over his playing career with the knowledge he obtained at the MLB coaching program.
“The program really taught me a lot about terminology being used in the game today, better ways to evaluate talent and maturing as both a coach and scout,” Nelson said. “I gained a deeper respect for all the hard work that goes into scouting. “It was an eye-opening experience with Tyrone Brooks and Bo Porter spearheading it. It’s a very good program.”
Dusty Speaks On World Series Blackout
Baker has been outspoken about the current state of the game when it comes to Black players. This World Series is the first not to have a single Black player since 1950. The member of the exclusive 2,000-win club flat out said “he’s ashamed of the game.” It’s a far cry from when he played in the 70s, when Black players were littered all over MLB rosters.
Dusty has led a record five teams to 12 postseason berths, three World Series appearances, and has won more games than all but eight managers in history.
“I don’t think that’s something that baseball should be really proud of. It looks bad,” Baker lamented.
Nelson thinks Black representation is important to the sport. “We’re stuck on about 6-8 percent of Black players at each level,” Nelson said. “And I don’t think the number will I prove until more Black coaches are hired to develop and push these players. It’s one of my missions.”
Nelson is very optimistic about potential future opportunities gained from his experience. “This program has done a good job preparing us for the opportunity, now it’s just about putting the time and work in and getting the opportunity to show our worth within the game.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros stand atop both of their respective conferences. This is a position both teams have become accustomed to, and this due to their brilliant managers, MLBbros Dave Roberts and Dusty Baker. Under the tutelage of these great baseball minds the Dodgers and Astros are once again the two favorites to win the World Series. Both managers are in very different points in their careers, but both are dominating in their own right. It is no small feat that in a league with less than 7% of the population being represented by Black Americans, that the top two teams are both ran by the only two full-time Black managers in baseball.
Dave Roberts
While MLBbro Dave Roberts is much less “experienced” as a manager when being compared to Dusty Baker, he more than makes up for that with his accomplished resume. Roberts has already won a World Series as a manager, something that has eluded Dusty Baker in his managerial tenure. Roberts is also on pace to have the National League #1 seed for the fourth time in seven years as the Dodger’s skipper. Roberts has a top five Winning Percentage all time for Managers which is just a credit to the repeated brilliance he has shown in the early stages of his career. He has the Dodgers fully locked in post all-star break and they seem to be headed for another NL Pennant.
Dusty Baker
MLBbro Dusty Baker has been managing since the early 1990s. With almost 30 years of managerial experience there is nothing he hasn’t seen. Not only has he helped the Houston Astros to bounce back from their tumultuous cheating scandal, but he has kept them in playoff contention on a yearly basis. Since taking over the team has reached nothing lower than the American League Championship series, and he has made them a perennial threat to contend. Although he has yet to win the World Series as a manager, he has won as a player and knows what it takes to reach the top. Currently in the top ten all times for Wins as a manager, with over 2,000 to his credit, Dusty Baker is a perfect manager to have in October.
Both of the Dodgers and the Astros are on fire and gaining momentum for the postseason. All signs point to a head on collision for not only the World Series title, but for the best Manager in baseball. Both MLBbros Dave Roberts and Dusty Baker have proven that their respective teams are two constant forces that simply cannot be ignored.
Recent Comments