I didn’t know anything about Dusty Baker, except that he was the Manager of the San Francisco Giants. He was a teammate of Hank Aaron on the Atlanta Braves and there was a lot of verbiage on there relationship, and a lot of extra insight when Hank hit home run number 715. How awesome is that?
Baker also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers under the Managerial helm of Tommy Lasorda, the San Francisco Giants under Frank Robinson, and the Oakland Athletics (José Canseco was a rookie in 1985 and Mark McGwire was a rookie in 1986).
As a Manager, Baker was in charge of the San Francisco Giants (with Barry Bonds chasing the home run record), the Chicago Cubs (with Sammy Sosa, another home run king), the Cincinnati Reds (with Ken Griffey JR, yet another home run king), the Washington Nationals, and the Houston Astros (where he finally won a World Series, after a few times of being there both as a player and a Manager). How awesome is his lineage to baseball history?
Baker also talked about his passion for music and fishing, and that he always takes advantage of where is for those activities. In 1967, he attended all three days of the Monterrey Pop Festival.
There was also a lot of talk about his family, and how important his parent’s role in his life was. Quite a few times, when Baker needed advice, he called his dad! For his own kids, he was just a proud parent when his son made his big league debut as a professional baseball player.
He got to meet a lot of famous people (especially, when was playing for the Dodgers) from music, athletes, and politicians (he met a young Barack Obama while he was Managing the Cubs). When he was a player and a Manager, the game was one thing, but a lot of times, after the games, he hung with his friends and those friends could be from the opposing teams.
His medical diagnosis of having prostate cancer and some heart issues were discussed.
There were a lot of details of his playing and managerial days, and for me, it was a bit too much. It also felt like some of the stories were out of order, and I had a hard time following along. Overall, I enjoyed reading about his journey, and was actually really impressed with his experience and all the great mentors he had in the game.
He was in the on deck circle when Hank Aaron hit number 715.
He was a player for the Dodgers when Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.
He was the Giants Manager when the 1989 earthquake happened during the World Series.
He was the Cub Manager when a fan named Steve Bartman may have interfered with the ball in the 2003 National League Championship Season.
After reading it, I think he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As a player, he played 18 seasons with an average of .278, 242 home runs, and 1013 RBIs, and one World Series title in 1981 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As a Manager, 2183 wins and 1862 losses, and one World Series title.
It’s also funny, because his real love was basketball and football!
