Dusty Baker

Dusty Baker has had two very successful seasons in Chicago. In 2003 the Cubs won their first NL Central Division Title and went on to play in the National League Champion Series. And in 2004, Dusty guided the Chicago Cubs to their first back to back winning seasons since the     1971 – 72 seasons and helped the Cubs set a single season attendance record.

Highlights in Dusty Baker’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.
• Has been to the post season nine times. Four as a player, four as a manager and once as a coach.
• Set a record for winning more games than any other rookie manager in National League history in 1993 and tied a San Francisco franchise record with 103 wins.
• Has been named Manager of the Year three times (1993, ’97 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, 1932-41). His 840 victories with the Giants rank Dusty second in New York/San Francisco Giants franchise history and ranks #1 in San Francisco history.
• Has won 1,000 games as a Major League Manager His .541 career winning percentage (1007-855) ranks second among nine current Major League managers with at least 1,300 games managed.
• Recipient of the first annual Hank Aaron Diversity Anti-Defamation League Award in November 2004.
• Winner of the 2004 Martin Luther King Achievement Award for accomplishments on and off the field.

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 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was selected NLCS MVP after hitting .357 in the Dodgers’ 4-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 fluent Spanish and was 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, his most popular subjects are teamwork, team building, communication and motivation and diversity in the workplace and society.