The wind whistles louder the closer you get to the mountain top. Just ask Dusty Baker, whose teams have come so close to getting to the World Series to no avail. After 20 years away from baseball's grand stage, Baker and his Houston Astros have punched their ticket to the World Baseball Classic after sweeping the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

“Hey, I'm headed back to the World Series!” Baker said on the field postgame as the Houston faithful erupted around him. “We did this for H-Town and I have the greatest guys in the world.”

After Baker led the San Francisco Giants to a World Series appearance in 2002 (they lost in seven games), Baker went on to coach the Chicago Cubs in 2003. The team had a 3-2 lead in the NLCS when it had an eighth inning collapse in Game 6 behind an error by Alex Gonzalez and a controversial missed fly out involving left fielder Moisés Alou and fan Steve Bartman. They ended up losing the series.

Baker bounced around following his stint with the Cubs and managed the Reds from 2008-13 and the Washington Nationals from 2016-17. He landed with the Astros in 2020 after they fired manager A.J. Hinch following a report detailing the team's involvement in sign-stealing scandal.

Now, Baker and his team are four wins away from winning a World Series title.

“We love going out there every single day and competing for him,” Astros' third baseman Alex Bregman said postgame. “He loves this team. He loves winning. He loves the game of baseball. And a hundred percent we want to win for him.”