HOUSTON -- He talked about listening to B.B. King, the Rolling Stones and the rapper Too Short. He dropped the names of Tommy Lasorda, Bill Russell, Bill Walsh and his ¡°old partner,¡± Enos Cabell. And he discussed pruning grape vines and checking his dog for ticks back home.

Dusty Baker even trotted out a few lines of Spanish, with a tad bit of hesitation.

¡°I¡¯m pretty good,¡± he joked, ¡°but it makes me tired.¡±

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Baker, while getting introduced to the Houston media at a Thursday press conference at Minute Maid Park, won over the room with his easygoing personality and good nature. That, along with his solid track record as a winner in his 22 years as a big league manager, are the reasons Astros owner Jim Crane selected the 70-year-old to succeed AJ Hinch as the club¡¯s skipper.

¡°He¡¯s the best person to lead this team to a championship,¡± Crane said. ¡°His goal is our goal.¡±

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Baker made a positive first impression for the Astros on Thursday, but now comes the hard part. The Astros are turning to the steady Baker to calm the waters of a team in turmoil. The sign-stealing scandal that led to the dismissals of Hinch and president of baseball operations and general manager Jeff Luhnow have sullied the Astros¡¯ reputation as a franchise on the field. The hiring of Baker is the first step in turning that around.

¡°We have to go forward,¡± Baker said. ¡°We can¡¯t go backwards. We¡¯ve got to go forward and make sure that it doesn¡¯t happen again. It¡¯s certainly not going to happen on my watch here.¡±

Baker inherits a club coming off a 107-win season that was eight outs away from winning the World Series last year. The Astros lost in seven games to the Nationals -- Baker¡¯s former team -- but are again considered favorites to win the American League West. Baker has a realistic shot at becoming the first manager in history to take five teams to the postseason.

That certainly didn¡¯t seem possible when Baker was dismissed from the Nationals after back-to-back first-place finishes in 2016 and ¡¯17. Baker thought he was done as a manager. He packed away his baseball equipment bag in his attic at his home in Sacramento, Calif., and was coming to terms with retirement despite the disappointment of never winning a World Series as a manager.

A call from Crane changed things.

¡°This is my last hurrah," Baker said. "I'm excited to be here and excited to win, because this is my last chance to accomplish the goal [of winning a World Series]. I was happy, but I wasn't satisfied where I was and what I was doing -- because something's missing."

Baker has made nine postseason appearances in his 22 seasons as a Major League manager. He has won 1,863 regular-season games, good for a .532 winning percentage. The drive to win that elusive World Series attracted him to an Astros team that¡¯s good enough to do it.

"In life, all of your experiences of your past should help you in the present," Baker said. "I've been through a lot of things in my life. I feel that I can help the players, I feel like I can help the organization, I feel like I can help the city."

While the hiring of Baker brings some instant credibility to the club, his resume isn¡¯t without some blemishes. His track record in the playoffs isn¡¯t good -- he did lead the Giants to the 2002 National League pennant -- and he¡¯s known for riding starting pitchers too hard. And, as the oldest manager in the big leagues, can he embrace the analytics that the Astros rely upon so heavily?

¡°We¡¯ve got good people that can deliver it in a concise way,¡± Crane said. ¡°We really don¡¯t try to overload them. We just work on the things that need to get done. I have no problem [believing that] he¡¯ll take this and run with it and apply it to how he feels he can win games.¡±

To be in the game for as long as Baker, you have to embrace change.

¡°How many men 70 years old have a 20-year-old son?¡± Baker said. ¡°And I just had my first grandchild 15 days ago. I enjoy and embrace being modern, but also being old school at the same time. And I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t combine both of them.¡±

The Astros, who are still in search of a general manager, will give Baker all the data he can consume. At the end of the day, he¡¯s here to win any way he can. He¡¯s here to help the Astros weather the storm of scorn and criticism that¡¯s likely to follow them around this year. It¡¯s nothing Baker can¡¯t handle through leadership, respect and even instilling some of the advice he once got from Russell, the 11-time NBA champion who told him the secret to winning was everyone loving each other.

¡°This is a new beginning for us, a new beginning for me,¡± Baker said. ¡°I think the thing we have going for us is the amount of love that I see that the players have for this city and the city has for the players, and also that the players have for each other. It¡¯s going to be very, very positive. I knew it was going to be challenging when I took the position. I¡¯ve always [risen] to the challenge.¡±