Dusty Baker Goodbyes, an Incredibly Touching Michael Brantley Tribute & Alex Bregman Sticking to Impossible Standards — How the Astros React to the Season’s Sudden Demise

Mauricio Dubon won’t leave the Houston Astros clubhouse at Minute Maid Park until he has a signed Michael Brantley jersey in his possession. Dubon knows this might be the last time he ever shares a clubhouse with Brantley, all the Astros do. Just like they know that Dusty Baker has managed his last game in Houston whether he retires or decides to guide another team at age 74.

The goodbyes are inevitable in professional sports, especially when you only play for championships like these Houston Astros under Jim Crane. But that does not make them any easier. The Astros’ 11-4 loss to the World Series bound Texas Rangers in a Game 7 that’s never really competitive will leave marks. And in some ways forever alter baseball’s only force close to a true modern dynasty.

Whether that turns out to be for better or worse will be determined in the future. For now, it just stinks for guys like Dubon to know this could be it for learning from Michael Brantley, who’s made this Astros clubhouse stronger and more together for the last five years. No matter how much his battered body hurt along the way.

“When he was rehabbing, it was every day me and him in the tub talking about hitting, talking about what kind of player I am,” Dubon says. “And I always admire him. I told him, ‘I used to swing like you when I was in high school.’ And it was actually true. To watch him playing. . .

“True professional.”

Dubon frequently told Brantley during those sessions — part of the 14 months Brantley spent rehabbing his busted up shoulder to get back and be able to play in this postseason — the same thing.

“I want to be like you.”

Who wouldn’t want to be like Michael Brantley? Who wouldn’t want to be like these Golden Era Houston Astros, seven straight American League Championship Series reachers (maybe the most amazing stat of all) and two-time World Champions?

Yes, the Texas Rangers absolutely dominate the defending champions over the last two games of this ALCS, outscoring the Astros 20-6 in their home ballpark. Bruce Bochy, Corey Seager and playoff superman Adolis Garcia absolutely earn their World Series breakthrough with an incredible display of heart, smarts and hunger.

But that truth does not take away from this Astros’ run. A run that hasn’t hit a brick wall as much as it’s taking a turn. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, the Core Astros heart and soul of this amazing era, are both signed for one more season. And Bregman’s talked this postseason about his desire to play with Altuve his entire career, something that both Crane and general manager Dana Brown should be working on ensuring happens this offseason. Justin Verlander, the Astros’ only sure starter down the stretch and into October, is tied to the Astros for the next two seasons after that Mets trade.

“That’s obviously one of the reasons I wanted to come back here,” Verlander says. “Obviously, it was not just set up for success the rest of this season. I think moving forward, looking forward, there’s still a good window available.

“It’s a little early to say I’m excited about next year. Obviously dealing with this.”

This is the end of another season, the reality that a quest that started back in spring training in February has come up just short.

One win short of a third straight World Series. Five wins short of the repeat championship that no team in baseball has been able to pull off in 23 years.

“No,” Alex Bregman says simply when someone asks if this season is a success. “I think winning the World Series is a success.”

That is both an impossible standard and one of the biggest reasons these Astros are here year after year after year under Crane, a relentless pusher of people and the idea what can be sustained. Being close or in the conversation might be good enough for the New York Yankees these days. But not for the Houston Astros of Jim Crane, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman.

But seasons end just as abruptly for the Astros as anyone else. One night, one loss, it’s just suddenly over. After spending almost seven days a week together since February, it’s time to say your goodbyes and start looking to the offseason. And getting ready for another next year.

There are plenty of hugs between teammates on this night. Hector Neris wraps up fellow reliever Ryne Stanek, a man he loves to tease, in a bear of an embrace. Martin Maldonado, the veteran catcher who’s played such an oversized role in this clubhouse and now could be gone too, seems to seek out everyone.

“That’s obviously one of the reasons I wanted to come back here. Obviously, it was not just set up for success the rest of this season. I think moving forward, looking forward, there’s still a good window available. — Justin Verlander

At one point, Jose Altuve and Mauricio Dubon sit right next to each other at a table in the middle of the clubhouse. Just two buddies talking, both still wearing their uniform pants and T-shirts, with a horde of reporters milling about.

This together team will be together in defeat too. In shared agony.

Down. Beaten up. But still leaning on each other.

“Everything,” Brantley says when asked what he’ll remember from his time in Houston. “My teammates. The organization as a whole. The fans. I can’t thank them enough for all the support. It was an honor to play here.

“It’s been an amazing run.”

The Dusty Baker and Michael Brantley Houston Legacies

Brantley will be a 36-year-old free agent this offseason who has been limited to 79 games total the last two regular seasons because of injuries.

He made a run-down catch for the ages earlier in this series, seemingly defying age and the limits of his own beaten up body. If that sticks as the last memory of Michael Brantley for Astros fans, it’s a deservedly good one.

“I’m really proud of how this group of guys, they never give up,” Maldonado, a 37-year-old catcher with declining analytical numbers who does not have a contract for next season either. “Just to be able to make it seven (ALCSes) in a row, I think’s pretty special.”

No one has to seek out Baker for goodbyes. This Astros manager is someone who will always find his guys and offer a hug or knuckles to bump. None of the players need to be told that is the end of the run for Baker in Houston. That’s never been much of a secret.

“Everything. My teammates. The organization as a whole. The fans. I can’t thank them enough for all the support. It was an honor to play here. It’s been an amazing run.” — Michael Brantley

Few managers or coaches have connected with Houston more than Dusty Baker. He may have only been here for four seasons, but he sure made the most of them. He’ll walk away from H-Town both beloved and maybe a little underappreciated.

“He’s been incredible,” Bregman says, still wearing his full game uniform (hat included) as he talks to reporters in the clubhouse. “Great man. Great manager. Somebody you want to go out and play for. . .

“I’m just thankful I got the opportunity to be part of his team.”

Baker signs plenty of shirts for his players too — and how many managers get asked to do that? Even at age 74, Dusty Baker remains one of the coolest guys in any room he enters. His presence mattered for these Astros. And will be missed.

“Dusty’s been great for us every since he’s gotten here,” Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, one of the building stars who is tied to the Astros for the next two seasons right now, says. “He always has our backs. And we have his.

“So it’s been a lot of fun playing for him and just having him in the clubhouse.”

This Astros clubhouse will be different by February. Yainer Diaz, the 25-year-old who hit 23 home runs in 355 at-bats this season, will likely be set up as the regular catcher. Maybe the Astros will add another veteran starting pitcher, even as they count on 29-year-old Framber Valdez, who like Tucker is tied to the Astros for two more seasons right now, and 26-year-old Cristian Javier, signed through the 2027 season, to return to their proven best.

There isn’t a whole lot to say. Not much that can be said. But many of these Astros will still stick around the clubhouse for a while. To share those hugs and hang out together a little more. Even if some of it is done largely in silence.

Down. Beaten up. But still leaning on each other.

These 2023 Houston Astros will not be champions. But they’ll still look out for one another, still try to grab onto something to remember it all by.

“I always want to be like Michael Brantley,” Dubon says. “I laugh at him when I tell him, ‘One day I hope I get to be like you.’

“Days that I miss, days that I fail, I’m like ‘I’ll never get to be Michael Brantley.’ Because he’s the true. . .”

Sometimes you don’t have to finish the thought. Everyone knows what Mauricio Dubon is trying to say. How all these Astros feel.