Baker, Dusty (1949-…), was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) manager. Before managing, Baker spent 19 years in the league as a hard-hitting outfielder. Baker was known as a “player’s manager”—one skilled at working with different personalities to get players to perform at their best. In 2022, Baker became the first Black manager and 12th manager overall to win 2,000 regular-season games. That year, he led the Houston Astros to a World Series championship. 
Johnnie B. Baker, Jr., was born on June 15, 1949, in Riverside, California. His middle initial does not stand for a particular name. His mother nicknamed him “Dusty” as a child because he frequently played in the dirt in the family’s yard.
Baker excelled at sports growing up. He attended Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California, where he competed in baseball, basketball, football, and track and field. The Atlanta Braves selected him in the 26th round of the 1967 MLB draft. While in his early years in the Braves organization, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Baker became the starting center fielder for the Braves in 1972.
Atlanta traded Baker to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1975 season. He made three World Series appearances with the Dodgers, including in 1981 when the team won the championship. Baker and outfielder Glenn Burke are one of several groups credited with developing and popularizing the “high-five” hand gesture, while they were teammates on the Dodgers. The Dodgers released Baker following the 1983 season. He played for the San Francisco Giants in 1984 and the Oakland Athletics in 1985 and 1986 before retiring as a player.
Baker began coaching in the Giants organization in 1987. He was the team’s manager from 1993 to 2002. The Giants won 103 games in Baker’s first year, and he was named the National League (NL) Manager of the Year. He was also named the NL Manager of the Year in 1997 and 2000. Baker managed 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. He led all five teams to playoff appearances. Baker retired from managing in 2023.
