Dusty Baker

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Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr.
Outfielder, Manager
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 7, 1968 for the Atlanta Braves
Final game
October 4, 1986 for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics
AVG	.278
HR	242
RBI	1,013
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1968–1975) Los Angeles Dodgers (1976-1983) San Francisco Giants (1984) Oakland Athletics (1985-1986) San Francisco Giants (1993-2002, as manager) Chicago Cubs (2003-2006), as manager)
Career highlights and awards
National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player (1977) Gold Glove – Outfielder (1981) Silver Slugger – Outfielder (1980, 1981) National League All-star team (1981, 1982) The Sporting News National League All-star team (1980) “All-Time Dodgers Team” (1990) National League Manager of the Year (1993, 1997, 2000)

Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr. (born June 15, 1949 in Riverside, California) is a former outfielder and former manager in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Managerial career 2.1 San Francisco Giants 2.2 Chicago Cubs 3 Broadcasting Career 4 Personal life 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

Dusty Baker started his professional baseball career as an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves in 1968. After spending sixteen full seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics, Dusty finished his prosperous career as a player with .278 batting average, 242 home runs, and 1,013 runs batted in. Furthermore, a few of Dusty’s accomplishments as a player include playing for the National League All-Star team in 1981 and 1982, winning three League Championship series in 1977, 1978, and 1981. Baker ultimately won a World Series title in 1981 with the Dodgers. Dusty Baker also earned a spot as a footnote in history. On April 8, 1974, Baker was on deck when Hank Aaron hit home run 715 to pass Babe Ruth in career home runs.

[edit] Managerial career

[edit] San Francisco Giants

In 1993, Dusty returned to the professional baseball scene once again as manager for the San Francisco Giants, leading them to two divisional titles (1997 and 2000), a 2002 Wild-Card berth, and to an epic World Series appearance in 2002, where his team lost to the Anaheim Angels. Despite Dusty’s prodigious success, he left the Giants’ organization in 2003, in favor of managing the Chicago Cubs.

[edit] Chicago Cubs

Dusty made a major impact with the Cubs in his first season as manager for the ball club. With the help of an impressive pitching staff and big gun batters such as Sammy Sosa and Moisés Alou, the Chicago Cubs were able to claim their first divisional title in over a decade. Dusty instantly became an icon in the Chicagoland sports scene, as a plethora of Cubs fans could be seen sporting “In Dusty We Trusty!” shirts. Unfortunately, the Cubs’ hopes for winning a World Series title were cut short during the 2003 National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins. While angered Cubs fans denounced the defeat as a mere series of unfortunate “mishaps,” the Marlins would go on to claim the 2003 World Series title. Still crushed by defeat, numerous Cubs began to wear humorous T-shirts, which featured the spoonerism, “Muck the Farlins!”.

Following the 2003 season, Dusty would lead the Cubs into a desperate wild card chase. After dropping several crucial games, the team fell out of the Wild Card chase to the Houston Astros. After a disappointing 2004 season, Dusty faced even more disasters in 2005. Injuries to several key players such as Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Nomar Garciaparra rattled the team’s performance, leading them to close out the season with a sub-.500 record. In 2006, Dusty Baker came under much fire by many Cubs fans for allegedly mismanaging his team. As rumors circulated that Dusty’s job was at stake, Cubs’ general manager Jim Hendry announced that Dusty would remain manager for the remainder of the season [1].

Finally, after two unproductive seasons with the Cubs, Baker's contract was not renewed after the 2006 season. On October 2, 2006, he was given the chance to hold a press conference to formally announce his departure. The press conference took place during the noon hour and was broadcast live on several local TV stations and nationally on WGN-TV's noon newscast.

[edit] Broadcasting Career

Despite stating that he was interested in landing another managerial position for the 2007 season, Dusty has found no organizations willing to give him that opportunity. He was reported to be a candidate for the San Diego Padres managerial opening.[2]

Dusty served as an ESPN analyst during the 2006 MLB Postseason and has signed a 2-year contract to serve in a similar role during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.[3]

[edit] Personal life

Dusty has a wife, Melissa, and two children named Natosha and Darren.

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis (as player)
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis (as manager)
• Bio on ChicagoSports.com
• Dusty's Awards

Preceded by None; inaugural winner	National League Championship Series MVP 1977	Succeeded by Steve Garvey
Preceded by Mike Schmidt	National League Player of the Month June, 1980	Succeeded by Bob Horner
Preceded by Andre Dawson	National League Player of the Month July, 1983	Succeeded by Mel Hall
Preceded by Jim Leyland	National League Manager of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Felipe Alou
Preceded by Bruce Bochy	National League Manager of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Larry Dierker
Preceded by Jack McKeon	National League Manager of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Larry Bowa
Preceded by Roger Craig	San Francisco Giants Manager 1993–2002	Succeeded by Felipe Alou
Preceded by Bruce Kimm	Chicago Cubs Manager 2003-2006	Succeeded by Lou Piniella