Dusty Baker has been around for some iconic moments! October 5, 1977, he is credited for delivering the first official high five On October 2, 1977 — When Dusty Baker hits his 30th homer of the season against the Astros’ J.R. Richard, the Dodgers become the first team in major league history to have four…
Dusty Baker Position: OutfielderBats: Right • Throws: Right6-2, 183lb (188cm, 83kg)Born: June 15, 1949 in Riverside, CA usDraft: 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 SBLast Game: October…
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.
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.
“You want the truth. You can’t handle the truth. The truth of this situation is an extremely talented bunch of guys who want to look at all directions except where they should really look and kind of make excuses for what happened. At the end of the day, boys, don’t tell me how rough the water is, you bring in the ship.” – STEVE STONE, Cubs veteran broadcaster criticizing the team for making excuses during an October interview on WGN radio.The Cubs, hoping to fill the void created by Steve Stone’s resignation, hire former Diamondback manager and current Fox television analyst Bob Brenly to broadcast games on WGN. After spending twenty years in the broadcast booth, Stone left Chicago after his on-air comments concerning the team’s swoon in the wild-card race angered manager Dusty Baker and some of the players.
The owners establish the minimum age of 14 for bat boys. The change from not having any age requirement is prompted by a near collision at home plate during Game 5 of last year’s World Series involving 4-year old bat boy Darren Baker, the son of Giants manager Dusty Baker.
The New York Mets, after being unable to get permission to talk to manager Lou Piniella from Seattle, and deciding not to wait ten days after the World Series for the availability of San Francisco skipper Dusty Baker, give Art Howe a four-year, $9.4 million deal to manage the team. Howe managed the Oakland Athletics to two AL West titles in 2000 and 2002 with his teams winning 383 games during the last four seasons, matching Joe Torre’s total for the Yankees. A day later, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will name Piniella as their team’s new skipper, signing him to a four-year contract. As compensation to sign Piniella away from Seattle, Tampa Bay will send All-Star outfielder Randy Winn, who hit .298 with 14 home runs and 75 RBI, to Seattle for minor leaguer Antonio Perez.
Dusty Baker, after posting the best record in baseball this season, is named by the BBWAA as the National League Manager of the Year. The 51 year-old skipper, who guided the Giants to a 97-65 record, joins Tony La Russa (White Sox ’83 and A’s ’88 and ’92) as the only three-time winner of the award.
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.
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.