Johnnie B "Dusty" Baker Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers. During his Dodgers tenure, he was a two-time All-Star, won two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove Award, and became the first NLCS MVP, which he received during the 1977 National League Championship Series. He also made three World Series appearances, winning one in 1981.
After retiring as a player, Baker served as the manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2002, the Chicago Cubs from 2003 to 2006, the Cincinnati Reds from 2008 to 2013, the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2017, and the Houston Astros from 2020 to 2023. Baker was named NL Manager of the Year three times with the Giants and won the 2022 World Series with the Astros. At age 73, he is the oldest manager to win a championship in the four major North American sports. He was also the first MLB manager to reach the playoffs and win a division title with five different teams, having accomplished both feats with each team he managed. Baker ranks seventh in MLB managerial wins and has the most wins among African-American managers.
Early life
Baker grew up in Riverside, California, as the oldest of five children. He earned the nickname "Dusty" from his mother because of his propensity for playing in a dirt spot in the backyard. His father worked as an Air Force sheet metal technician at Norton Air Force Base. Baker played a variety of sports growing up, describing basketball as his very first love while also playing sports such as baseball, with his father being his coach for Little League, although this did not stop the elder Baker from kicking his son off of teams because of his tantrums. When the younger Baker wanted to quit baseball and have a paper route, his father told him that he did not raise a son who was a quitter as a way to try to encourage him to spin his attitude in a positive direction. In 1963, when Dusty was 14 years old, the Baker family moved to the Sacramento area near McClellan Air Force Base. Baker grew up as a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and described Tommy Davis as his hero, but the signing of Bobby Bonds in 1968 made him a fan of the San Francisco Giants.
Baker excelled in baseball, basketball, football, and track in Del Campo High School near Sacramento, California; and he was inducted into the Sac-Joaquin Section's Hall of Fame class in 2010 for his play at Del Campo. As such, he was offered a basketball scholarship by Santa Clara University. His father was so committed to his son going to college that he went around and told scouts that his son would go to college and play either football or basketball, as opposed to them wasting a draft pick on Baker. The one scout who saw something in Baker was Bill Wight, as he knew the situation between Baker and his family, which had just seen his father and mother go through a divorce that worried Baker about potentially being a burden to his parents.
Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
Baker was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1967 amateur draft. On June 19 of that year, the Braves tasked Hank Aaron to try to influence Baker to sign with the team, with Aaron promising to both Baker and his mother Christine that he would take care of Baker as if he was his own son while guaranteeing that Baker would be in the majors before his college class graduated. Baker decided to sign with the team to the anger of his father, who sued to nullify the contract (and the $15,000 signing bonus), which led to a decision where the State of California appointed a trustee over his finances until his 21st birthday. Baker did not speak to his father for three years.
As an outfielder, Baker played his first baseball games in the Texas League in Austin in the AA classification, playing nine games in 1967. He then played in the Western Carolinas League and the Florida State League (mostly in the former) before playing six games in the majors the following year. It was also during the year that Baker would serve as a Marine Corps Reserve in motor transport mechanics for six years.
Atlanta Braves (1968–1975)