Dusty Baker drops old school Moses Malone reference on Astros defense

HOUSTON — For Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, defense makes a big difference as his team tries to get back to the World Series.

For the Houston Astros, overlooked in Game 1’s victory over the Seattle Mariners because of Yordan Alvarez’s walk-off home run to clinch the come-from-behind win was a defensive effort that set the team up for the ninth-inning comeback.

Included in the defensive gems for the Astros on Tuesday was a throw from Alvarez in left field that beat Seattle’s Ty France to the plate, keeping Houston’s deficit at 6-2, as well as a nice double play started by shortstop Jeremy Peña that bailed Astros starter Justin Verlander out of a second-inning jam.

“I would say defense always has to be clean in the playoffs,” Peña said. “You have to run the bases well in the playoffs. You have to play clean defense in the playoffs. Those are usually the teams that come out on top. So that’s always the focus, play good defense behind our dominating pitching staff.”

Dusty Baker invokes Moses Malone in Astros defense

The 25-year-old Peña wasn’t even alive when NBA Hall of Famer Moses Malone continued to build his rebounding legacy as a member of the Astros’ cross-town cousins, the Houston Rockets. Nicknamed the Chairman of the Boards, Malone was known as the finest rebounder of his time, leading the league in rebounding six times in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

So what does Malone have to do with the 2022 Astros? Manager Dusty Baker invoked Malone’s name in media availability before Game 2, explaining that how Malone went about his business was similar to how he sees his team’s defense impacting the final score.

“I remember in the Moses Malone commercial when he didn’t say a word, he just was rebounding and he says, ‘Hey, you can’t score if you don’t have the ball,'” Baker explained. “Everybody talks about scoring, but very few talk about rebounds. Rebounding is part of defense in basketball, and defense is huge in baseball.

“I’ve always had great defensive teams because it’s hard to play on my team on a regular basis and play bad defense,” Baker continued. “You might drive in three, but you’re going to let in four, either directly or indirectly, and so that’s a deficit. So to play on my team for an extended period of time, you got to play defense.”

That defensive mindset showed itself in the ALDS Game 2 lineup with Jake Meyers batting eighth and starting in center field. Meyers batted just .227 in 150 at-bats during the regular season but, when asked about what he want to see from Meyers in Game 2, Baker didn’t hesitate when he put defense first in his answer.

“I want to see him playing good defense, taking charge. Not being apprehensive about anything, and also getting some hits and getting on base,” Baker said.

Now in his 12th postseason as a manager, Baker is making sure one of the lessons he has learned throughout his illustrious career as a player and skipper is being passed down to the 2022 version of the Houston Astros, including a young core that will be depended upon this postseason.

“You only have 27 outs in a game. You start giving away outs, either through errors or not turning double plays or things, now you’re possibly playing 30 outs versus 27,” Baker said. “You can’t give away outs and expect to win over a long period of time.”