Dusty Baker

A photo of Dusty Baker.

Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr. (born June 15, 1949 in Riverside, California) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball and the current manager of the Houston Astros. He previously led the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals winning the 2002 National League pennant with the Giants.

Biography

Playing career

Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1967 amateur draft out of Del Campo High School near Sacramento, California, Dusty Baker began his professional baseball career as an outfielder for the Braves in 1968. After spending sixteen full seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, as well short tenures with both the San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics, Baker finished his prosperous career as a player with .278 batting average, 242 home runs, and 1,013 runs batted in. Furthermore, a few of Baker’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. 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. (He said he hit a double "That nobody saw and nobody cared" in that at-bat.) Baker played his final season in 1986.

Managerial career

San Francisco Giants

Baker's coaching career, ironically, started with his former Dodger arch-rival: the San Francisco Giants. Baker began his coaching career as a first base coach for the San Francisco Giants in 1988, and then spent the following four years (1989–1992) as the hitting coach, and finally became the manager in 1993, replacing the departing Roger Craig. In his very first year as Giants manager, he won the N.L. Manager of the Year award, leading the team to a 103–59 record, which was the second-best record in baseball that year (behind the 104–58 Atlanta Braves), and 31 games better than their 72–90 finish the previous year. His Giants went on to win division titles in 1997 and again in 2000; Baker would win Manager of the Year honors in both of those years as well. In 2002, his Giants gained the Wild-Card berth and from there advanced to the World Series, where they lost in seven games to the Anaheim Angels. It was during his San Francisco tenure that the term "Dustiny" was coined by the late former Giants pitcher Rod Beck. Despite Baker’s success in San Francisco, the Giants let him leave to manage the Chicago Cubs and hired Felipe Alou to replace him.

Chicago Cubs

Baker 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. Baker instantly became an icon in the Chicago sports scene, as a plethora of Cubs fans could be seen sporting “In Dusty We Trusty!” shirts. However, 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.

Following the 2003 season, Baker and the Cubs failed to see another playoff berth. In 2004, the team was involved in a heated wild card chase with the Houston Astros, but fell out of contention near the season’s end. In the subsequent season, the Cubs lost several of their key players, most notably ace pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, to injuries. The team finished the season with a 79–83 record, marking the first time in three years that the Cubs finished with a losing record. The Cubs’ performance declined in the next season, as they fell to 66-96, and finished last in the entire National League.

While the Cubs’ organization stated that Baker would remain the team’s manager throughout the 2006 season, they did not renew his contract. They allowed Baker to address the media in a press-conference in early October, where he officially announced his departure. The Cubs turned to Lou Piniella to replace Baker for the 2007 Chicago Cubs season. Under Piniella, the Cubs made it to the National League Division Series, but fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three game sweep.

Cincinnati Reds

On October 13, 2007, Baker was hired as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, replacing interim manager Pete Mackanin. He also is the first African American manager in Reds history.

Criticism

Baker, an old-school baseball traditionalist, was scrutinized for the Cubs’ declining productivity. To sabermetricians, many of his methods were puzzling, such as his tendency to put players with a poor on-base percentage, such as Neifi Perez, Jose Macias, Corey Patterson, and Jerry Hairston Jr. at or near the top of his lineups. Baker rejected (and still rejects) the importance of on-base percentage, arguing that extra baserunners simply "clog up the bases" unless they can run well. This flies in the face of statistically-oriented baseball strategy and has made Baker a frequent target among the sabermetric community. Additionally, many fans, commentators, and writers blamed his consistent tendency to overuse young pitchers for damaging the career of Kerry Wood and derailing the career of Mark Prior. Baker was widely known as a "player's manager," attempting to mollify his athletes rather than focusing on team output above personal interests, and favoring his favorite players regardless of their statistical output.

In 2003, Baker was the subject of some controversy when he stated that "black and Hispanic players are better suited to playing in the sun and heat than white players." Dusty, defending his beliefs, later said, "What I meant is that blacks and Latinos take the heat better than most whites, and whites take the cold better than most blacks and Latinos. That's it, pure and simple. Nothing deeper than that."

Broadcasting career

He served as an ESPN analyst during the 2006 MLB Postseason and served in a similar role during the 2007 season.

Personal life

Baker was a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1969 through 1975. Baker has a wife, Melissa, and two children named Natosha and Darren. Darren was famously rescued from being run over at home plate by J. T. Snow during the 2002 World Series. They live in Granite Bay, California, an extremely upscale suburb of Sacramento.

Managerial records

• Updated on July 30th, 2008

Team	Year	Regular Season				Post Season
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
San Francisco Giants	1993	162	103	59	.636	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1994	115	55	60	.478	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1995	144	67	77	.465	4th in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1996	162	68	94	.420	4th in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1997	162	90	72	.556	1st in NL West	0	3	.000	Lost in NLDS
	1998	163	89	74	.546	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1999	162	86	76	.531	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	2000	162	97	65	.599	1st in NL West	1	3	.250	Lost in NLDS
	2001	162	90	72	.556	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	2002	161	95	66	.590	2nd in NL West	10	6	.625	Lost in World Series
SF Total		1,555	840	715	.540	2 Division Championships 1 Wild Card	17	18	.486
Chicago Cubs	2003	162	88	74	.543	1st in NL Central	6	6	.500	Lost in NLCS
	2004	162	89	73	.549	3rd in NL Central	-	-	-	-
	2005	162	79	83	.488	4th in NL Central	-	-	-	-
	2006	162	66	96	.407	6th in NL Central	-	-	-	-
CHC Total		648	322	326	.497	1 Division Championship	6	6	.500
Cincinnati Reds	2008	162	74	88	.457	5th in NL Central	-	-	-	-
CIN Total		162	74	88	.457		0	0	.000	-
Total		2,412	1,259	1,1153	.521	3 Division Championships 1 Wild Card	23	24	.493

See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2006
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Baseball-reference.com – Major league career managerial statistics

Accomplishments

Preceded by: None; inaugural winner National League Championship Series MVP 1977 Succeeded by: Steve Garvey Preceded by: Mike Schmidt Andre Dawson National League Player of the Month June, 1980 July, 1983 Succeeded by: Bob Horner Mel Hall Preceded by: Jim Leyland Bruce Bochy Jack McKeon National League Manager of the Year 1993 1997 2000 Succeeded by: Felipe Alou Larry Dierker 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 Preceded by: Pete Mackanin Cincinnati Reds Manager 2008- Succeeded by: incumbent