Dusty Baker is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball and the current manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He previously led the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs, winning the 2002 National League pennant with the Giants.
Dusty Baker guided the Chicago Cubs to their first National League Central Division title and into the postseason for the first time since 1998. They ousted the high-powered Atlanta Braves in five games in the National League Division Series and took the Florida Marlins to seven games to decide the National League champion. This is a significant accomplishment, as the Chicago Cubs finished 2003 with a 67-95 record (fourth place) and improved their record by 21 wins to finish 88-74 in 2003. The Cubs finished the second half of the season with the third best record in baseball—a .603 winning percentage. Dusty won major league baseball’s Managers Move of the Year award for a move he made against the Diamondbacks in August 2003.
Highlights in Dusty's career include the following:
- Won the National League Central Division title in 2003, National League Pennant in 2002, two National League West titles, a Wild Card title and has finished in the two top spots in the division 9 times in 11 years.
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Has been to the post season nine times: four as a player, four as a manger and once as a coach.
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Set a record for winning more games than any other rookie manager in National League history in 1993 and tied a franchise record with 103 wins.
- Has been named Manager of the Year three times (1993, 1997 and 2000).
- Dusty became the first NL manager to earn three BBWAA Manager of Year honors and second in Major League baseball to accomplish this honor.
- Has won the National League Manager of the Year award two times joining the elite company of Tommy Lasorda and Jim Leyland as the only other managers to win the national League award twice.
- Became the third Giants skipper to manage for ten seasons joining John McGraw (31 years, 1902-32) and Bill Terry (10 years, 1932-41).
- His 840 victories with the Giants rank Dusty second in New York/San Francisco Giants franchise history.
- His .540 career winning percentage (840-715) ranks second among nine current Major League managers with at least 1,300 games managed.
As a player, Dusty Baker spent 16 prestigious seasons with Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland. He was twice selected to the National League All-Star team, appeared in four National League Championship Series (NLCS) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was selected NLCS MVP after hitting .357 in the Dodgers' four-game series with Philadelphia. Dusty went to three World Series with the Dodgers and beat the New York Yankees in 1981 to win the World Championship.
Dusty's hobbies include hunting and fishing. He speaks fluid Spanish and has been an active member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1969 through 1975. He has co-authored
You Can Teach Hitting, has produced numerous videos on hitting and oversees the Dusty Baker School of Baseball. Dusty is very involved in the community, providing leadership to charitable, health, youth, and law enforcement causes.
An outstanding speaker, Dusty’s most popular subjects are teamwork, teambuilding, communication and motivation and diversity in the workplace and society.
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