Dusty Baker

Position: Outfielder
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
6-2, 183lb (188cm, 83kg)
Born: June 15, 1949  in Riverside, CA us
Draft: Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 26th round of the 1967 MLB June Amateur Draft from Del Campo HS (Fair Oaks, CA).
High School: Del Campo HS (Fair Oaks, CA)
School: American River College (Sacramento, CA)
Debut: September 7, 1968 (12,751st in major league history)
vs. HOU 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: October 4, 1986
vs. KCR 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Agents: Jerry Kapstein
Full Name: Johnnie B. Baker
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1968

Ted Simmons
Al Oliver
Hal McRae
Dusty Baker
Richie Hebner
Bobby Bonds
Rollie Fingers
Andy Messersmith
Freddie Patek

Notable Events and Chronology for Dusty Baker Career

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

June 7, 1967

The last-place New York Yankees have the first pick in the free-agent draft and use it to take Ron Blomberg 11 of first 20 picks will make the show

August 21, 1972

Steve Carlton’s consecutive-victory streak ends at 15 dtoping a 2-1 extra innings decision

September 15, 1973

Dusty Baker makes what The Sporting News will call “the greatest catch in Atlanta Stadium history,”

November 17, 1975

the Dodgers trade for Dusty Baker

September 13, 1977

1977 – The Dodgers’ Dusty Baker drives in a team-record five runs in one inning, the 2nd, as Los Angeles whips the Padres, 18 – 4. Los Angeles leads the NL West by 13 1/2 games.

October 2, 1977

When Dusty Baker hits his 30th homer of the season the Dodgers become the first team in major league history to have four players hit 30 or more home runs.

October 5, 1977

Glenn Burke greets Dusty Baker on the dugout steps which consists of the two players extending their right arms above their heads and slapping their hands to make a resounding clap, is considered to be the first ‘high five’ in baseball history.

December 25, 1977

Major League Baseball Season Recap 1977

October 7, 1978

In Game 4 of the NLCS, Ron Cey scores in the 10th inning on Bill Russell’s two-out game-winning single, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over the Phillies and their second consecutive National League pennant. Cey, who walked after the first two batters were retired, advanced into scoring position when Garry Maddox misplayed Dusty Baker’s fly ball in center field.

May 4, 1980

5/4/1980 – The Dodgers were visiting Philadelphia and the top of the first inning was not Dallas Green’s best day on the way to the World Series championship. Davey Lopes singled and Rudy Law reached on an infield error. After Reggie Smith popped out, Law stole second base. Steve Garvey reached on an infield single, scoring the first run of the game. Dusty Baker then hit into a force out leaving runners on first and third but had batted out of turn. Green came out and pointed out the fact that the proper batter had not hit. Thus Ron Cey was called out, the runners restored to their previous bases and Baker batted again. This time he hit a three-run homer to left. Green now was very upset saying that Baker should not have batted believing according to newspaper accounts that Baker’s force out should count and Cey should be ruled out . He was ejected from the game and protested the game. The protest was denied as the rules were followed correctly. The incorrect decision was Green’s when he did not take the out on Baker’s first trip to the plate. The Dodgers eventually won the game 12-10.

August 18, 1982

In the completion of a game suspended the previous day after 17 innings, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 2 – 1 in 21 innings

February 9, 1984

After vetoing a trade to Oakland Dusty Baker is waived by the Dodgers

June 27, 1984

In the 3rd inning against the Reds, Giants OF Dusty Baker swipes second base, third, and home, garnering three of his four season steals. Baker swipes second, and the next batter walks, then gets caught in a rundown. Dusty steals third during the rundown and just keeps running. San Francisco wins 14 – 9, with Chili Davis adding a pinch grand slam in the 5-run 5th. Randy Lerch wins with a third of an inning of relief.

December 16, 1992

Dusty Baker, 44, is selected to replace Roger Craig in the dugout as manager of the Giants. During his ten-year tenure, the former hitting coach will compile a 840-715 (.540) record and will be named the National League Manager of the Year three times.

November 6, 1997

Dusty Baker as the National League’s Manager of the Year

August 8, 1998

8/8/1998 – In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Giants’ Shawon Dunston pinch hit for Ellis Burks in the second spot in the order and ended the inning with a strikeout. In the top of the sixth inning, manager Dusty Baker made five substitutions in his lineup, including leaving Dunston in the game. New players went into the third through fifth spots in the order. Stan Javier started the bottom of the sixth properly and was out. Then Joe Carter and Rich Aurilia got confused and Aurilia batted out of turn. He walked, Carter flew out and then Bill Mueller, who had been in the game, walked. By now it was too late for the Braves (ahead 10-2) to say anything, if they actually knew there was a problem. With all the changes, they might not have realized Aurilia batted out of turn. The Giants scored three runs in the inning but lost the game 14-6. Carter and Aurilia hit in the proper order the next time around the lineup in the seventh inning.

October 19, 2000

Dusty Baker, who led the Giants to a National League West flag with baseball’s best record (97-65), reaches an agreement with the Giants on a two-year contract extension. The pact makes the two-time National League Manager of the Year the second-highest-paid skipper in the majors.

November 9, 2000

Dusty Baker, after posting the best record in baseball this season, is named the National League Manager of the Year for the third time

October 28, 2002

Mets unable to sign Pinella make Art Howe there manager

January 16, 2003

The owners establish the minimum age of 14 for bat boys

November 9, 2004

Steve Stone is replaced by Bob Brenly after making harsh remarks about Dusty Baker

October 13, 2016

2016 – The Dodgers eliminate the Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS, 4 – 3, thanks to an epic 7th inning that takes over an hour to play. With the Dodgers trailing 1 – 0, Joc Pederson hits Max Scherzer’s first pitch of the inning for a homer, ending the Nats ace’s night. Dusty Baker uses five relievers in a vain attempt to try to stop the bleeding, but a pinch-hit RBI single by Carlos Ruiz and a two-run triple by Justin Turner give L.A. a three-run lead. Washington comes right back with a walk and a two-run pinch homer by Chris Heisey off Grant Dayton, who then puts another runner on base. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t mess around though: he brings in closer Kenley Jansen early, and he gets seven outs even if he walks four batters; when Jansen is out of gas, Roberts brings in his ace, Clayton Kershaw, to retire the final two batters.

October 20, 2017

In an unexpected move, the Nationals announce that Dusty Baker will not be back as the team’s manager next year. Baker is coming off consecutive division titles, but the Nats exited the postseason early both years. Also on the managerial front, the Tigers announce that they have hired former Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire to replace the fired Brad Ausmus.

November 5, 2022

Dusty Baker has been around for some iconic moments

Biography

​

Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker, Jr. (born June 15, 1949 in Riverside, California). Hank Aaron said, “Dusty Baker has more potential than any outfielder I’ve seen in all my seasons with the Braves.”

Playing Career

Before Dustin was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 27th-round in 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. Baker seemed ready to realize that potential when he batted .321 (third in the NL) in 1972, his first full season in the ML. In 1974, 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.)

But after three straight subpar seasons, he was traded to the Dodgers in November 1975. Another poor season followed, but in 1977 he rebounded (.291, 30 HR, 89 RBI). He set a club record against San Diego with five RBI in one inning. When he hit his 30th homer on the last day of the 1977 season, it enabled the Los Angeles Dodgers to become the first team ever to have four 30 home run hitters (Reggie Smith, Ron Cey, and Steve Garvey were the others) in one season. He hit .357 with a four-game-record eight RBI in the LCS, and his two-run homer off Steve Carlton provided the game-winning RBI in the NLCS and he batted .292 in the World Series that the dodger’s lost to New York in 6 games.

In three more LCS, he never hit less than .316. In 1981, the muscular left fielder again finished third in batting (.320), won a Gold Glove, and made an outstanding catch in the All-Star Game at Cleveland.

In total, he spent 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 a .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. However, Baker played poorly during the series and did not contribute much to the Dodgers winning cause batting only .167 with an OBP of .192.

Baker was inducted into the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Hall of Fame class in 2010 for his play at Del Campo.

Notable Events During Dusty Bakers Career:

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Played For
Atlanta Braves (1968-1975)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1976-1983)
San Francisco Giants (1984)
Oakland Athletics (1985-1986)

Awards and Honors
1977 NL NLCS MVP
1981 NL Gold Glove

All-Star Selections

Post-Season Appearances
1977 National League Championship Series
1977 World Series
1978 National League Championship Series
1978 World Series
1981 National League Championship Series
1981 National League Division Playoffs
1981 World Series
1983 National League Championship Series

Factoid
In Baker’s first two seasons as Cubs’ manager, the team won more games in back-to-back years than they had since 1945-1946.

Hitting Streaks
17 games (1972)
17 games (1972)
16 games (1980)
16 games (1980)
15 games (1981)
15 games (1981)

Quotes About Baker
“If you don’t like Dusty Baker, you just don’t really like people….Dusty treats you like a man, but also like a friend.” — Kenny Lofton

Quotes From Baker
“Players make their own success. Managers only put them in a position to do so.”

All-Star Selections
1981 NL
1982 NL