Astros Manager Says Bill Cosby Called to Wish Him Luck, Shocking Internet

The internet is not pleased with Dusty Baker.

Just hours before the first pitch of the 2022 MLB World Series, featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and Baker's Houston Astros, the 73-year-old manager told reporters that multiple big-name personalities had reached out to him with well wishes, including disgraced comedian Bill Cosby.

"Dusty Baker says this week he has heard from 'my homeboys and homegirls,' some former coaches, Snoop Dogg and Bill Cosby," senior Sports Illustrated writer Stephanie Apstein tweeted earlier on Friday.

"An eclectic group, to say the least," Apstein added.

Cosby, 85, was once beloved within popular culture and labeled "America's dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on family sitcom The Cosby Show during an eight-season run from 1984 to 1992.

Over the last decade, however, Cosby's fall from grace has been well-publicized.

In 2014, comedian Hannibal Burress shed light on allegations of sexual assault and rape against Cosby. The same year, former supermodel Janice Dickinson publicly said she had been drugged and raped by Cosby in 1982.

A year later, he was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, an employee at Cosby's alma mater Temple University, who claimed he had encouraged her to take multiple pills before sexual assaulting her during a 2004 encounter.

In 2018, following years of litigation and a countersuit, Cosby was convicted of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in the case involving Constand and two others.

He received a three-to-10-year sentence from Pennsylvania Judge Steven T. O'Neill, who declared the comedian a "sexually violent predator."

While his conviction was overturned on June 30, 2021, and he was released from prison the same day, Cosby was convicted of sexual battery earlier this year, and as many as 60 women have accused him of sexual assault since 1965.

Baker, who broke into the major leagues as a player in 1968 before playing 19 seasons during the height of Cosby's fame, has referenced his friendship with the comedian throughout his 25-year managerial career, most notably after being fired by the Washington Nationals in 2017.

Now, a half-decade later, Baker is managing the American League-champion Houston Astros, a team looking to avenge last year's World Series loss to the Atlanta Braves.

But before a pitch was even thrown, Baker's most recent Cosby reference had many Twitter users up in arms.

"You would have to waterboard me to get me to admit Bill Cosby reached out to me in the year 2022," one user wrote, in a quote-tweet of Apstein's original post.

"Man I would not be bragging about Bill Cosby having my phone number in 2022," @jaseidler echoed.

"If I were Dusty Baker I would simply not refer to noted rapist Bill Cosby as my homeboy," @heathdwilliams tweeted.

"Just when everyone agrees Dusty Baker is a good dude, he casually throws out being friends with Bill Cosby," @OhNoCoop chimed in.

"I would simply not be friends with Bill Cosby let alone acknowledge my friendship with Bill Cosby," another user added.

Newsweek reached out to the Houston Astros for comment.