by Mark Langill
The custom blue blazer presented to Dusty Baker on Friday night at Dodger Stadium felt more comfortable than the new title bestowed upon him as a “Legend of Dodger Baseball.”
“I don’t consider myself a legend,” says Baker, a two-time All-Star who won a Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger Awards during his career with Los Angeles from 1976 to 1983. “Heck, I always thought Reggie Smith was the best player on our team.”
Smith attended the pregame ceremony along with former outfielder Ken Landreax and the five other living Legends of Dodger Baseball — Steve Garvey and Fernando Valenzuela (2019 inductees), Kirk Gibson (2022) and Manny Mota and Orel Hershiser (2023 inductees). The two other Legends are the late Don Newcombe (2019) and Maury Wills (2022).
During a Friday afternoon press conference, Baker credited the various Dodger coaches and instructors who helped his development after Los Angeles acquired Baker and infielder Ed Goodson in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Nov. 11, 1975, in exchange for infielders Lee Lacy and Jerry Royster, and outfielders Tom Paciorek and Jimmy Wynn.
“I was born on the Braves,” says Baker, who made his Major League debut at age 19 in 1968. “But I matured on the Dodgers.”
At the Dodgers’ Spring Training complex in Vero Beach, Florida, Baker listened to advice from former Brooklyn Dodger greats, including catcher Roy Campanella, infielder Jim Gilliam, and pitchers Don Newcome and Carl Erskine. He even discussed hitting with Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, whom Baker said considered hitting and pitching to be mirror images of one another.
“That was pretty deep for me,” Baker said. “When I was with the Braves, I asked (Hall of Fame outfielder) Hank Aaron who was the toughest pitcher he ever faced. He said Sandy Koufax. I asked Sandy about his toughest hitter, and he said Koufax. That was mutual respect right there.
The most influential teammate in Baker’s career was Aaron, who played 21 of his 23 years with the Braves, including from 1966 to 1974 in Atlanta when Baker was an outfield prospect. Originally drafted in the 26th round of the 1967 First-Year Player Draft, Baker signed with the Braves after Aaron promised Baker’s mother he would look after him like his own son.
More than a half-century later, Baker reflected on the influences of both Aaron and Tommy Lasorda, the Dodger manager who told Baker he was going to be the Dodgers’ starting left fielder in 1977, despite hitting just four home runs during an injury-plagued season in 1976.
Because Smith played right field and newly-acquired Rick Monday from the Chicago Cubs played center field, “there was only one field left, and I had never played left field in my life,” Baker said.
The confidence shown by Lasorda, along with the June 1976 trade that brought Smith to the Dodgers in exchange for catcher Joe Ferguson, gave Baker both a manager and a teammate who believed in him.
“I knew Reggie had my back, I could talk to him about anything,” Baker said. “Tommy showed confidence in me, which is something I learned when I later became a manager and wanted my players to feel confident.”
In 1977, Baker set a career high with 30 home runs. His final blast in the regular-season finale against the Houston Astros gave Los Angeles the first Major League quartet to reach hit at least 30 home runs: Steve Garvey (33), Smith (32), Ron Cey (30, and Baker. He hit 144 home runs as a Dodger and was a fan favorite over his eight seasons from 1976–1983.
Forty-one years later he returned to Dodger Stadium to take his place in Dodger history.
During the ceremony, numerous videos played and there was a central theme about Baker — he was beloved teammate.
“They say a superstar is someone that makes people around them play better,” Smith said. “Dusty was a superstar on the field and a superstar manager as well.”
The word ‘legend’ suits Dusty Baker was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.