Houston Astros, manager Dusty Baker make it official

Here's hoping Baker gets another trophy. Photo by Marco Torres/@MarcoFromHouston

With all the frenzied speculation surrounding Houston Astros stars who may or may not return — Trey Mancini and Will Smith are now free agents — fans received some welcome news from the team on Wednesday, November 9.

Beloved manager Dusty Baker will return next year, Astros owner Jim Crane announced on Wednesday. While exact terms weren’t disclosed, Baker’s deal is a one-year contract through the end of the 2023 season, per the team.

“Hey man, we’ve got a chance to win back-to-back and this is what I’d like to do,” Baker said at a news conference on Wednesday, per MLB.com. “I’ve got work to do. You can’t be satisfied on where you are right now or you’ll never get past where you are right now.”

“I love winning more than anything,” he continued. “I’m spoiled by winning. That’s what I plan on doing, doing some more winning.”

Baker has been doing plenty of winning since he joined the Astros. His new deal comes off the Astros’ historic 2022 season, capped by the team’s Game 6 clinching of its second World Series title since 2017. Under Baker’s management, the Astros dominated the American League with a 106-56 record, the second-best in franchise history.

That domination continued throughout the postseason, with a 7-0 sweep in the American League Division Series and American League Championship Series.

As the nation watched, the Astros faced off with the Philadelphia Phillies for the Commissioner’s Trophy, rallying three straight wins, including the 4-1 win in Game 6 to secure the title in front of a raucous Minute Maid Park crowd on Saturday, November 5.

By the numbers, re-signing Baker is a no-brainer; he boasts a combined record of 230-154 (.599) in the regular season over his three seasons with the team, which tops the AL in that span.

A calming presence when he took over the team in 2020, Baker ushered the team to a mere one win away from the World Series. The next season, the Astros scored the AL pennant and headed to the World Series, where they were eventually bested by the Atlanta Braves in six games.

And this year? The run has been nothing short of magical… continue on CultureMap.

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Texas hosts Clemson on Dec. 21. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

No. 4 Texas will be competing for a return trip to Atlanta when it plays at home against No. 13 Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The winner of the Clemson-Texas first-round game on Dec. 21 will play No. 10 Arizona State in the Jan. 1 Peach Bowl in Atlanta in the CFP quarterfinals.

For Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, who is from Austin, Texas, the game will be a homecoming.

“We recruited him hard," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Sunday, calling Klubnik “a winner. He will do whatever it takes to put his team in position to be successful.”

Added Sarkisian: “When he made the decision to go to Clemson, honestly I wasn’t surprised. Both his parents went to (Texas) A&M.”

Klubnik applauded the announcement of the game at Texas for Clemson's seventh CFP appearance.

“For him to be going to his first playoff in Austin, Texas, where he grew up, you can’t make that up,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Pretty cool opportunity for him and his family to go compete against Texas there in Austin.”

Swinney said his only visit to the Texas stadium was to watch Klubnik play in a high school playoff game.

“We’ve never played Texas or played in that stadium,” Swinney said. “... It’s going to be amazing. It’s one of the best venues in college football.”

The Longhorns (11-2) were seeded No. 5 in the CFP following their 22-19 overtime loss to Georgia on Saturday night in the Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta.

Sarkisian said his players were “really excited” to see Texas land the No. 5 seed and have the opportunity to play in the Longhorns' first game against Clemson.

Texas safety Andrew Mukuba is a Clemson transfer. Sarkisian said players already were calling the matchup the “Mukuba Bowl.”

Swinney said: “I love Mukuba. I just love his spirit and love his heart. He was a really neat kid.

“I certainly wish he had been able to finish here. He did everything that was asked of him at Clemson. Made a bunch of big plays.”

Clemson (10-3) beat SMU 34-31 in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday night to land an automatic CFP berth. The Tigers are ranked No. 16 in the CFP but were given the 12th and lowest seed. As the fifth-highest ranked league champion, the Tigers do not get a bye and instead must visit Texas.

Arizona State (11-2) earned a bye by rolling over Iowa State 45-19 in the Big 12 championship game Saturday. The Sun Devils were led by running back Cam Skattebo's 170 rushing yards in their impressive win to cap their first season in the Big 12.

Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan noted the Sun Devils were picked to finish last in the Big 12.

“You proved them all wrong,” Stokan told Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham.

Arizona State players celebrated the announcement of their No. 4 seed.

Dillingham said he hopes the conference championship and berth in the CFP helps him recruit and continue to build the program.

“Hopefully this stage will help get our branding out there, and show people that we can be one of the newer brands in college football," Dillingham said. "Every 10-15 years a new brand shows up, and a new brand becomes a national brand.”No. 4 Texas will be competing for a return trip to Atlanta when it plays at home against No. 13 Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff.