World Series champ Astros visit President Biden, White House - ESPN

WASHINGTON — At 73, Dusty Baker became the oldest manager ever to win the World Series when the Houston Astros took the title last year. On Monday at a White House celebration for the team, President Joe Biden said he could relate.

«People counted you out, saying you were past your prime. Hell, I know something about that,» joked Biden, who in 2020 became the oldest president ever elected, at age 77. Biden, now 80, is running for reelection in 2024.

Baker has been around the game for decades. He won a World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had been to the Fall Classic twice before as a manager. He finally got his first title in his 25th season as a manager. The win came 20 years after a near-miss, when he came within five outs while guiding the San Francisco Giants.

«I remember rooting for him as a kid, and I was older than he was,» Biden quipped.

Baker, now 74, spent the past three seasons with the Astros after they hired him to help the team regain credibility after a sign-stealing scandal cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs, and made Houston the most reviled team in baseball.

Baker, like Biden, is working on a repeat and said he wants to be back in the White House next year after winning the title again.

The team presented Biden, the 46th president, with an honorary jersey with the number 46. The MLB trophy was on display during the ceremony in the East Room, where the team also posed for photos.

The Astros won last year's World Series over the National League's Philadelphia Phillies — whose fans include first lady Jill Biden. The president often jokes that he must root for the Phillies or else he'll be sleeping alone. He joked Monday that he wouldn't be able to set