Did Dusty Baker win World Series as a player? Everything you need to know

Dusty Baker became the winningest African American manager in history earlier this season. Last night, as his Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1, he became the oldest manager to win the World Series.

Because of his advanced age and portly appearance, many fans forget that Baker used to be a player. Today we will be finding out whether or not Dusty Baker ever won the World Series as a player.

""15 years of pleasure is worth the 60 years of trying to get here"". At 73 years old, Dusty Baker is the oldest manager in MLB history to win a World Series." - @ Fox Sports: MLB

Baker played baseball at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California in the mid-1960s. His skill and hitting ability soon caused major league teams to take an interest. When he came of age, Baker was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1967 MLB Amateur Draft.

He floated up and down from the minor leagues in his first 4 years in the Braves organization. In 1972, Baker got his first opportunity to play a full season for the Braves. He finished with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs in 127 games that year.

Although Dusty Baker was a promising young player, the Braves were just not a very good team at the time he played for them. The team experienced a 12-year playoff drought between 1970 and 1982 - meaning Baker never saw playoff action with the Braves.

That all changed when Baker joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976. Within a few years, the Dodgers appeared as though they were ready to make serious plays for the World Series.

"Dusty Baker in 1981 the year winning World Series as a player. 41 years later, he finally won World Series as manager." - @ Sports Talk

Baker joined a team full of prolific hitters like Mike Soscia, Ken Landreaux, and Ron Cey. The team was good enough to advance and win the 1981 World Series. Ironically, Baker defeated the AL Champion Houston Astros to win his only World Series as a player.

Dusty Baker hoists the trophy again as manager

41 years after a 32-year-old Baker won his first trophy as a player in his prime, he has now won another as one of the oldest active managers in the MLB. The last time that the Astros won the World Series was in 2017, under manager AJ Hinch. Baker joined the Astros in 2020. After narrowly missing out on the glory in 2021, Baker was sure to get it right this time.