Robert Eugene Dernier (born January 5, 1957), also known as "Bobby", is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, in the 1980s. The fleet-afoot 1984 Gold Glove Award winner was also known as "The Deer", to fans at Chicago's

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. Dernier experimented as a switch hitter during part of the 1983 season with Philadelphia.

Biography

After graduating from high school in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

, Dernier attended Longview Community College, where he played baseball and majored in journalism. He led the minor leagues three times in stolen bases—77 with Peninsula in 1979, 71 with Reading in 1980, and 71 for Oklahoma City in 1981. Dernier was traded along with

Gary Matthews Gary Nathaniel Matthews Sr. (born July 5, 1950), nicknamed Sarge, is an American former professional baseball left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through for the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phill ...

and

Porfi Altamirano Porfirio Altamirano Ramírez (born May 17, 1952), nicknamed ''"El Guajiro"'' is a Nicaraguan former professional baseball right-handed middle relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1982–83 ...

from the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

to the Cubs for Bill Campbell and

Mike Diaz Michael Anthony Diaz (born April 15, 1960) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball between 1983 and 1988, for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox. He also play ...

on March 27, 1984. He was the leadoff hitter for the Cubs' 1984 N.L. East division championship team. Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg batted second and the lead-off pair was dubbed "The Daily Double" by Cubs announcer

Harry Caray Harry Christopher Caray (; March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American radio and television sportscaster. During his career he called the play-by-play for five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games ...

. Dernier was a member of the 1983 Phillies team, which won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

pennant but lost the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and the 1984 Cubs team which won the NL East but lost in the playoffs to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. He homered leading off the first inning of Game 1 in the

1984 National League Championship Series The 1984 National League Championship Series was played between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs from October 2 to 7. San Diego won the series three games to two to advance to the World Series. It was the first postseason series ever for ...

to kick off a 13-0 victory for the Cubs, but they dropped the series, three games to two. From the mid-1990s through at least 2004, Dernier was an instructor at a baseball training academy in Kansas City. Dernier was named the Cubs major league first base coach on August 23, 2010, after serving as the team's minor league outfield and base-running coordinator since 2007. He remained a Cub coach until the end of the 2012 season.

References

External links

1957 births Living people Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first base coaches Chicago Cubs coaches Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Helena Phillies players Spartanburg Phillies players Peninsula Pilots players Reading Phillies players Oklahoma City 89ers players Junior college baseball players in the United States {{US-baseball-outfielder-1950s-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links