Dusty Baker at center of another crazy MLB playoff coincidence
Jan 30, 2020; Houston, Texas, USA; Dusty Baker speaks after being announced as the Houston Astros manager during a press conference at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Dusty Baker continues to be the Forrest Gump of Major League Baseball.
A wild fact about the Houston Astros manager Baker went viral following Game 4 of the 2022 World Series on Wednesday. Baker’s side blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0, throwing a combined no-hitter in the process. Jayson Stark of ESPN shared that, of three no-hitters in MLB postseason history, two of them have now taken place at Citizens Bank Park … and Baker was the visiting manager for both of them.
Baker managed the Cincinnati Reds in 2010 when late Phillies great Roy Halladay no-hit them in Game 1 of the NLDS.
There have been 3 no-hitters in postseason history.
2 have been pitched in Citizens Bank Park (the other: by Roy Halladay in 2010).
Dusty Baker was the visiting manager in two of them.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 3, 2022
You might be able to guess what the other no-hitter in MLB playoff history was — New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen’s iconic perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. While Halladay and now the Astros have since followed with playoff no-hitters, Larsen’s outing remains the only perfect game in the history of the MLB postseason.
Baker did spark some controversy with his decision-making in Wednesday’s combined no-hitter. But regardless, this is by far better than the last playoff coincidence that Baker found himself at the center of.
