Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker Jr., born June 15, 1949, is presently managing the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball. A hard-hitting outfielder in the major leagues, he played for a lustrous 19 years, mostly with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dusty Baker was an integral part of the Dodgers team that won pennants in 1977 and 1978, and also the 1981 World Series.
He has managed the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals. During which he guided the Giants to the National League pennant in 2002, and he also made the playoffs with the other three teams.
On a one-year deal, he was appointed to manage the Houston Astros in 2020. Baker became the first MLB manager to guide five different clubs to the playoffs in his debut year with the Astros.
In 2021, he led them to the AL West crown, becoming the first manager in baseball history to win a division title with five different teams. Baker is also one of only six managers in franchise history to make the playoffs ten times.
Baker was the oldest of five children growing up in Riverside, California. Because of his appetite for playing in a dirt patch in the backyard, he was given the nickname “Dusty” by his mother.
