Dusty
Dusty Baker is a living legend. He is the embodiment of the 20th-21st century black American experience and a man who transcends race and time.
He is part of multiple groups that count a mere fraction of the humans who have ever lived among their members - baseball men who’ve won a World Series as players and as managers. Managers with 2,000+ wins. The list goes on, though a study of his accomplishments doesn’t do justice to describing who Dusty Baker is.
In so many ways, Dusty is a one of one. Not in the trite sense as popularized by the worlds of collectibles or social media, and not simply because he’s a pioneer who has lived a life of firsts.
The man invented the high five.
He was mentored by legends like Hank Aaron, maintained friendships and compared notes with other greats like John Wooden and Bill Walsh. A fountain of wisdom, the most significant source of which are his parents, Dusty has showered others with advice and given without expectation of anything in return, changing thousands of lives for the better in the process.
His brother’s battle with mental health struggles shaped him. He’s suffered public setbacks, starting a new business each time he was fired as the on-field leader of a baseball team - solar energy, wine and spirits, and private equity amongst his variety of entrepreneurial pursuits.
He is the de facto Mayor of Sacramento, a position he never asked for and graciously holds for life.
Either too humble or too driven by his faith or his desire to live his principles, it’s unlikely Dusty has spent much time pondering his certain far reaching impact. Instead, Dusty is a walking paradox… a G-d fearing hippie at heart who loves hunting and fishing, BMWs and Toyota trucks. He is content to take it as it comes while also bending the world to his will with strength of character and persistence.
He’s lived a multitude of lives like Walter Mitty, and maintained a Forrest Gump like presence across world events spanning decades, although opposite that eponymous film, has exuded effortless cool at all times. He has the biting wit of Don Rickles and Dolemite combined, matched with a deep and measured seriousness about affairs. He smoked a jay with Hendrix, and he’s exchanged personal letters with Regan and fielded calls from Obama, historically significant men like him who have simultaneously worn the adulation and enmity of millions.
And to think, this life might have been cut short like so many had he not eluded a drunken sheriff, out past the curfew for negroes in the Deep South one evening because he was enjoying a favorite TV program with his white teammates. Thanks to a team mom who provided safe passage in her bathtub as if her home were a stop on the Underground Railroad, we are all lucky to be enriched by the life of Dusty.
This is his story.
• First ever African American manager of an MLB team. Won World Series as a player with the Dodgers and as a Manager with the Houston Astros.
• Hired by the Houston Astros following cheating scandal for his integrity and to guide the team with a steady hand.
• Managed Barry Bonds during the steroid scandal.
• Only manager to take 5 teams to the playoffs.
• Founder of a solar energy company, a winery, and a private equity firm.
• Smoked a joint with Jimi Hendrix.
• Invented the high five with a gay teammate.
• Gave many people their first shot at success on and off the diamond.
• Counted on behind the scenes by US Presidents.
• Bought houses for each of his bench coaches, drawing the ire of team ownership.
• Playing on the road, took his only Jewish player out for Rosh Hashanah meal to keep tradition while away from family.
• Received a call with well wishes from Snoop Dogg prior to World Series win.
