Kiss the Sky

Dusty Baker is a former slugger for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's and a three-time Manager of the Year whose 1,671 wins as a manager rank 16th all time. He's a lifelong fan of music whose friends among prominent musicians include Elvin Bishop, John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana and B.B. King.

"At its best, the book evokes not only the pleasure of music, but the connection between that experience and the joy of sports." Charles Bethea, iNewYorker.com "(Baker's)interest in music might be instructive, after all, pulling a group of talented soloists together so that an underachieving baseball team could be, like their new manager, much more than that." Billy Witz, iThe New York Times "A mini-memoir, the book also appears through the lens of all the different flavors of music that shaped Baker's life to this day. In one layer of the narrative, Baker elaborates on his childhood and teenage years, including near-decisions to either play basketball at Santa Clara University or attend San Jose State solely because it was designated by Playboy as a party school. But his love of music, in a variety of genres, from the very beginnings of his youth, is what shaped him. As a kid, he was required by his mom to attend a Baptist church and give piano recitals, but he was forbidden to attend the local Pentecostal church because it was the first in his hometown to feature music with drums and guitar." Gary Singh, iSan Jose Metro