That 70s show
Septuagenarians La Russa, Baker defy age stereotypes as they guide AL powers
After beating Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals in four of five games during a contentious series at Wrigley Field 18 years ago, Dusty Baker sent a message to Cardinals starter Matt Morris.
“If he thinks (the fight) has been on so far, he has a whole decade of us coming,” the former Cubs manager said. Time flies and people change. But the rivalry between the 76-year-old La Russa and 72-year-old Baker only gets better with age. Now it’s La Russa managing a White Sox team on the cusp of a long window of contending and Baker trying to hold him off with a renegade Houston Astros team everyone loves to hate.
It may be a young man’s game, but the two oldest managers in baseball are setting the stage for what could be a made-for-October rematch in the postseason.
Neither one likes losing, especially to each other. And going into Saturday’s affair at Sox Park, Baker had the upper hand in the seven-game season series, winning the first five.
La Russa and Baker faced similar questions entering their latest jobs, including the obvious one about their age:
Can they still maintain the kind of energy needed to manage a team through a 162-game schedule and into October?
“My biggest fear is not trying something that you have an opportunity to do because you might fail or embarrass yourself,” La Russa said. “You’re better off trying it and embarrassing yourself and failing.
“I knew the two or three major reasons why I left the (Cardinals) job in 2011, and energy and stamina was not on the list.
“I’ve said it many times: Every manager dreams about walking into a club that’s ready to win. Rarely does it happen. Over the spring and the first half of the year, these guys inspire me. I’m not lacking for energy because they pump me up.”
Baker, who took over the Astros job in 2020 after manager A.J. Hinch was fired for the sign-stealing scandal, was in the same boat as La Russa.
How could someone in his 70s get through the grind?
“I heard it too,” Baker said before Saturday’s game. “But age is what you make of it.
“You’ve just got to cut your late-night activities. You’ve got to go to bed. You’ve got to maximize each day.
“I’m proud of my age. Every day I have friends, people I know, that are passing away. What has helped me is to have a 22-year-old (son) and a 42-year-old (daughter) and an 18-month-old grandson. I want to be around to see them grow up and have success.
“And being around these players keeps you young. Being around young people does that.
“I didn’t think I’d get another shot (after the Washington Nationals fired him in 2017), not with age and salary discrimination, which go hand in hand usually. And there’s always some kind of racial discrimination, no matter what color you are. Depends on who is doing the hiring.
“The way I look at it, God didn’t want me to go home yet. This was the door that was open to me, one that looked like it was impossible to open.”
It would be fitting if these teams met in the American League Championship Series, and both are leading their divisions. But the Sox didn’t prove in the first five matchups they’re in the same area code as the Astros.
The Astros entered Saturday’s game hitting .286 off Sox pitching with an .835 OPS. Their pitching staff had posted a 1.60 ERA against the Sox with a 0.87 WHIP.
It’s a small sample size, but the dominance both offensively and on the mound has been glaring. Whether that matters in the long run is debatable.
“It doesn’t matter who you beat now,” Sox closer Liam Hendriks said. “In Oakland last year I think we won almost every game against Houston.”
The A’s won seven of 10 in the season series in 2020, only to lose to the Astros 3-1 in an AL Division Series.
“We swept them toward the end of the year,” Hendriks said. “And then they came out in the ALDS and kicked our (butts).”
The season series may be irrelevant, but the Astros obviously are the team to beat. They’re the best-hitting team in the majors, and their starters also ranked first in the AL entering Saturday with a 3.32 ERA, just ahead of the Sox rotation’s 3.40.
The Sox knocked out hits on the first two pitches from Lance McCullers in Friday’s 7-1 loss, then had only one more — a ninth-inning hit by Tim Anderson — the rest of the night. It was much the same in the Astros’ four-game sweep in late June at Minute Maid Park in Houston. And if the Astros can acquire Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel, they might be odds-on favorites to win it all.
But plenty can happen before then, and La Russa and Baker are focused on the here and now, trying to win baseball games with millennials while skeptics wonder if they need a nap.
“People are so in a hurry to get rid of the older generation,” Baker said. “But there’s something we can teach them, and there are some things they can teach us about modern times.”
WHITE SOX RECAP
The White Sox haven’t been proficient at the long ball in 2021 despite playing in a renowned hitters’ ballpark. But they made up for the drought Saturday night with five home runs off Astros pitching in a 10-1 win before a lively crowd of 34,304 on a beautiful night on the South Side. Zack Collins, Tim Anderson (above), Gavin Sheets, José Abreu and Jake Burger homered for the Sox, with Burger hitting the first of his career. The Sox notched their first win against the Astros after losing the first five games of the seven-game season series. Lucas Giolito threw a complete game, allowing one run on three hits while striking out eight for his eighth win. He had a shutout going until the eighth, when he served up a solo home run to Abraham Toro. For more, go to chicagotribune.com/sports