Black History Month: Dusty Baker

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Jordan Foldy, staff writer

Johnnie B. also known as Dusty Baker, is an American former baseball player and retired Major League Baseball manager. He was an outfield hitting player for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers for 19 years. After his playing years were over he had 20 years of experience managing four different major league teams.

In 2002 he led the giants the National League Pennant and reached the play off with some of the other teams that he managed.

In 1988 he started as a first baseman coach and then later on became a hitting couch and then finally became the manager for the San Francisco Giants.

He was born on June 15, 1949. To this day Baker is one of the only four African Americans to manage a World Series team.

Before his baseball career for six years he was in the United Marine Corps. He started his own family with his wife and two kids.

Dusty worked as an ESPN analyst in 2006 MLB Postseason and shortly after served in a similar role during 2007. In 2015, Baker joined TBS as a studio analyst for the last two weeks of their regular season and for their commentary of the National League playoffs.

He is now a member of the National Advisory Board for Positive Coaching Alliance, a national non-profit organization committed to providing student-athletes with a positive, character-building youth sports experience. Dusty has made a few aperances  in several videos for this organization, all that can be found on the group’s YouTube channel. Baker is also the owner of the Baker Family Wines, along with owning the winemaker Chik Brenneman.