Hello! Welcome to another edition of the Astros Beat newsletter. Ralph Garr is at nearly every Astros home game, sitting in the first row of section 122 at Minute Maid Park. You can't miss him. He's wearing an Atlanta Braves hat and is only a few feet away from Astros manager Dusty Baker, his lifelong friend. To say Garr, whom Baker affectionately calls Gator because of his Louisiana roots, and Baker are friends is like saying cookies pair well with milk. Their relationship goes deeper than that and dates to 1967, when they were both signed by the Braves. They were teammates, roommates, instant friends and were as close as brothers. Still are. The opportunity to watch Baker become the 12th manager and first African American manager in Major League history to reach 2,000 wins meant Garr's front-row seat was now a front row to history. "Dusty is my brother, my best friend, brother in Christ, my best friend in the world," he said. "It don't get no better than Dusty Baker. He's one of the nicest human beings I've met in my life. He was an excellent baseball player and even a better human being. To know and spend time with Dusty is lovely. He's a wonderful baseball man." |
Garr, 76, was drafted by the Braves in the third round of the 1967 MLB Draft out of Grambling, near his home of Ruston, La. He spent 13 years in the big leagues, including eight with the Braves, and won the 1974 National League batting title by hitting .353. He retired after the 1980 season with a .306 batting average. He moved to Houston and opened a kolache shop, but baseball was his first love. At the 1984 Winter Meetings in Houston, he was offered a position in player development with the Braves by Hank Aaron, his former teammate. He's been scouting for the Braves in some capacity since, hence the Braves hat. "Dusty and I signed together," Garr said. "He was coming out of California, and I was coming out of Louisiana. That's a hell of a combination. They're a little more liberal coming out of California than coming out of the south, where I came from. But I was 21 and he was 17, but he felt he was as smart as I was at 17 than I was at 21 or 22. We blended together and he shared some things from California with me and I shared some things from down south with him. We met in the middle and we got along perfectly together." Each spring, Baker would drive from his home in Southern California and pick up Garr in Louisiana on their way to Spring Training in Florida. The endless highway nurtured a lifelong friendship. Garr introduced Baker to his first wife; Baker is the godfather to his kids. "We just had so much in common," Garr said. "We enjoyed being around one another like we do right now. I enjoy every minute with Dusty Baker and his family. He's such a caring and sharing young man and he really knows how to make things better when they don't seem to be going good. He's a special human being." When the Astros hired Baker in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal in January 2020, no one was happier than Garr, who had made Houston his home for decades. He and Dusty were reunited and could get back to sharing time with family or fishing. "There was a time I didn't think I was going to get another shot and Gator would say, 'Hey man, you're supposed to be here,'" Baker said. "And I'm supposed to end here in Houston, too, right where he lives. He's a big-time man of faith. He made me go to church and stuff when I didn't want to go to church. I kind of liked the club. Gator has mattered big-time in my life and in my family's life." Garr compared having his best friend manage the Astros to hitting the lottery. "How do you start with a guy and then when I'm done, end up with with the same guy?" he said. When the Astros faced the Braves in last year's World Series, Garr was conflicted. The Braves have been his life, but so has Baker. Ultimately, he decided he was fine with whoever was going to win. "The Braves my pay salary but I knew the best team was going to win," he said. "The Braves wore them down. He gave a great fight and I'll tell you…" …Garr's voice rose once again as he looked for another opportunity to explain how much Baker means to him. "I don't want to harp on how good he is," he said. "Look at the stuff he's done, look at what he's doing now. I don't know how it's a surprise to anybody he's a great manager and has had the success in the game of baseball. He's a great baseball man." |
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A BUDDING STAR Next week, the Astros will travel to Minneapolis to meet the Twins and will be reunited with Carlos Correa, their former star shortstop who helped them to three World Series appearances, including the 2017 championship. The Astros haven't looked back since letting Correa walk in free agency, though. Rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña has more than held his own in his first month the big leagues and entered Wednesday's game against the Mariners with five home runs, 14 RBIs and a .760 OPS in 23 games. Peña was hitting just .229, but in Astros wins he was batting .340 with three doubles, four homers, 13 RBIs and a 1.062 OPS. "I don't look at my stats," he said. "Every single day is new. I just compete." |
Looking deeper, Peña was in the top 86 percent in baseball in average exit velocity and expected slugging percentage, top 80 percent in hard-hit percentage, 89th percent in barrel percentage, 96th percent in sprint speed and 98th percent in outs above average. Those are terrific numbers. If there's a knock on his game so far, it's the swing and miss. He's in the bottom 20 percent in chase rate and in the 36th percentile in whiff percentage. Once he's able to stay in the strike more, he should take off as an offensive player. "The fact that he can hit the ball out of the ballpark hit the ball in the gaps, he's just scratching the surface on what he can do," Baker said. |
THREE QUESTIONS WITH RELIEF PITCHER PARKER MUSHINSKI Q: You grew up in Argyle, Texas and went to Texas Tech, so what's your favorite thing about Texas? A: "Just the people. I've been to East Texas and West Texas and the people are just mostly good people. That's what I would say." Q: What's surprised you the most about being in the big leagues? A: "I wouldn't say surprising, but everybody, no matter how old they are, they're all a bunch of kids, you know what I mean? They obviously go about their jobs very seriously, but they're all just a whole bunch of kids in older bodies. You're supposed to have fun and that's why you play, but a lot of these guys truly have enjoyment every day no matter what's going on." Q: What Major League ballpark(s) are you looking forward to pitching in the most? A: "It's hard not to want to pitch in Fenway, Wrigley and Dodger Stadium. I know one of my dad's lifelong dreams was to go see Dodger Stadium. That would be sick to go pitch in there and have him come watch. Probably those three are top of the list." |
DUSTY QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I'll tell you one thing, the people are so nice, saying 'please' and 'thank you.' ... At home, I remind the kids to say 'please.' I'll say 'What's the magic word?' And they'll go 'Astros.'" -- Baker on his visit to Toronto last weekend. |
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TRIVIA When Dusty Baker reached 2,000 career wins, he become the 12th manager in history to reach that milestone. What other member of the 2,000-win club managed the Astros? A. Walter Alston B. Bruce Bochy C. John McGraw D. Leo Durocher |
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THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY May 5, 2004 In his first season with the Astros, Roger Clemens passes Steve Carlton and moves into second place on the all-time strikeout list, trailing only Nolan Ryan, his idol. Clemens struck out Raul Mondesi of the Pirates for his 4,137th strikeout in a 6-0 win. Clemens retired with 4,672 strikeouts and is currently in third place on the all-time list behind Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875). |
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TRIVIA ANSWER D. Leo Durocher Durocher, who won 2,008 games as a manager with the Brooklyn Dodgers (738), New York Giants (637) and Chicago Cubs (535), finished his career by winning 98 games with the Astros in 1972-73. He managed the final 31 games of '72, replacing Harry Walker, and went 82-80 in the 1973 season. |
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