Astros Manager Dusty Baker Goes Viral for Beer Luge After World Series Win

Dusty Baker is feeling high on life after leading the Houston Astros to a historic World Series win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

After a tense week of games, in which the Astros recovered from being down 2-1 by winning twice in Philly before sealing the title at Minute Maid Park in front of their home crowds, 73-year-old Baker was ready to party.

Amid the wild celebrations in the locker room after the game, there was a moment for the beloved manager to take on a beer luge, with his team urging him on to drink.

In the clip, Baker is seen holding a silver magnum of Champagne under his arm as he is urged to place his mouth around a tube emerging from the ice sculpture, which spells out "World Series Champions 2022."

As the beer starts flowing through the tubes, Baker begins drinking amid cheers and laughter before he finishes with a beaming smile.

The video has now gone viral with an outpouring of love for the Astros manager across social media.

One commenter, who was loving the video, tweeted: "This is beautiful!"

While another was full of affection for Baker: "Congratulations to dusty man, couldn't happen to a better person."

Even Phillies' fans begrudgingly gave Baker credit for the Astros' win, with one tweeting: "He deserves it. The only thing I liked about Astro win. Was Dusty."

The manager was full of joy after the winning moment and told ESPN after the game: "I'm feeling great, these guys are the greatest guys, they always believe. This is for my mom and my dad, my mom that passed in January, and my brother and all my boys.

"God, dang it. It's a wonderful thing."

Baker has had an illustrious career in which he has become the only manager to lead five different teams to the postseason in MLB.

He has won division titles with five different clubs and is the first Black manager to win 2,000 career games.

Baker has also settled the one blot on his record with the win.

Speaking to MLB.com before the deciding game, he said: "I mean, I got 2,000 wins and all they talk about is I haven't won the World Series yet, you know?

"So, yeah, it matters. It matters to the people. It matters to us."

Baker then added: "My mom, she told me a number of times, to be African-American, you've got to be twice as good to achieve the same thing. I heard that over and over."

Over his 30 years as coach, since leading the San Francisco Giants for the first time in 1993, Baker has become a favorite across the MLB with fans of other teams also having a soft spot for the acclaimed manager.

Lance McCullers Jr. told The New York Times previously about the influence Baker has had from the moment he walked into the Astros, in the wake of the team being found guilty of cheating during their 2017 World Series win by a league probe.

McCullers said: "When he came here in 2020, we had the whole cheating scandal and we had Covid.

"He was a stabilizing force for us. I wish we could have done it a little bit sooner for him, but he truly deserved this."

Baker has become the player/manager who has the longest amount of time between winning the World Series as a player and then as a manager.

He was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they won the prize in 1981 and it has taken over 40 years before he could land it as a manager.

After the game, he said: "I just knew it was going to happen, sooner or later, you stick around long enough and you've got good teams. I said, if I win one, I want to win two, so we might as well go for two—we'll see.

"I'm so happy that it took this long. Because had this happened years ago, maybe I wouldn't even be here.

"Maybe, it wasn't supposed to happen, so that I could hopefully influence a few young men's lives and families, and a number of people in the country, showing what perseverance and character can do for you."