By Brandon C. Williams
The Post Newspaper Managing Editor
The search for a replacement for Astros manager Dusty Baker just might have a very local twist.
La Marque graduate Jeff Banister, currently serving in his first year as bench coach for the National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks, has expressed interest in interviewing to become the next Astros manager after Baker announced his retirement last week.
“It would be another one of those pinch yourself moments to have an opportunity like that,” said Banister prior to Game One of the World Series against the Texas Rangers, whom Banister managed from 2015-18.
Banister, who also played baseball at the University of Houston, appeared in one game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1991, recording a hit in his only Major League at-bat. After retiring from the game in 1993, Banister became a minor league and major league field coordinator for the Pirates through 2010 before becoming the team’s bench coach through 2014.
Named the manager of the Rangers in 2015, Banister led the franchise to American League West Division championships in 2015 and 2016 but lost both times to the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Division Series. After seasons of 78-84 and 64-88 in 2017 and 2018, Banister was replaced in Texas, but returned to work with the Pirates, where he remained until being let go during the pandemic of 2020.
Banister did interview for the Astros managerial position in 2014 before the team selected A.J. Hinch, who guided the team to the 2017 World Series championship and the American League crown in 2019 before he was fired due to his part in the team’s signal stealing scandal.
