SABR’s Dusty Baker-Sacramento Chapter

SABR’s Dusty Baker-Sacramento Chapter The Dusty Baker-Sacramento Chapter serves SABR members in the Northern California area.

Formed in 1994, the chapter was renamed to honor Dusty Baker, the longtime manager and former All-Star outfielder, in 2017.

08/18/2026

My second book, “Beyond the Last Inning: Life and Careers After Playing Professional Baseball,” arrived today!

08/16/2026

I just finished mailing “Beyond the Last Inning” books to all 49 featured ballplayers. I have more books arriving in about a week that I’ll make available. In the meantime, McFarland is fulfilling orders and other online booksellers should be shipping soon. (Disregard the incorrect date Amazon has listed.)

08/13/2026

⚾️📖 NEXT WEEK! “Beyond the Last Inning” is available for pre-orders and will begin to ship next Monday, 8/10! 📖⚾️

For former professional ballplayers, career transitions aren't as simple as switching jobs. Imagine excelling at something since you were a child, having it become your job, and reaching great professional heights as a young adult - then, often within just a few years, having to accept everything you've worked toward is over, and likely not on your terms. What follows is not just the challenge of finding a new profession but of forging a new identity. Through 49 first-person stories of major and minor leaguers, this book gives readers a greater understanding of what ballplayers face when they hang up their spikes.

08/12/2026

⚾️📖 Shipments have begun! The publisher, McFarland, started fulfilling pre-orders yesterday, and other booksellers should follow within the next week or so! (Disregard any incorrect dates Amazon is generating.) 📖⚾️

For former professional ballplayers, career transitions aren't as simple as switching jobs. Imagine excelling at something since you were a child, having it become your job, and reaching great professional heights as a young adult - then, often within just a few years, having to accept everything you've worked toward is over, and likely not on your terms. What follows is not just the challenge of finding a new profession but of forging a new identity. Through 49 first-person stories of major and minor leaguers, this book gives readers a greater understanding of what ballplayers face when they hang up their spikes.

08/09/2026

Following his playing career, Jim Rushford worked for many years as a heavy equipment operator at a copper mine before recently entering medical billing coding. At the time of his interview for the upcoming “Beyond the Last Inning: Life and Careers After Playing Professional Baseball” book, he was working and living in Arizona.

Rushford played seven seasons of affiliated baseball, including one season in the major leagues. His last year playing in affiliated baseball was 2007.

Below is an excerpt from his “Beyond the Last Inning” story.

⚾️📖

“I realized the writing was on the wall. I was offered a contract to play independent ball. However, at about that same time I had gone to the local copper mine, which was only a couple miles from my house. I told them I had just finished a long baseball career, had a family to support, and that I needed a job. They hired me and it was a good paying job with great benefits. I had done everything I was able to in baseball. Although I would have liked to have played another season, I wasn’t going to give up a good long-term, solid, steady job at the mine to play a few more months of baseball. I would have been in the same situation again.

I didn’t make a ton of money playing baseball. My net worth was negative at the time with a mortgage, car payment, wife and three kids. I needed to put my family first and make sure they were taken care of.

I took the copper mine job, and they trained me how to drive a 200-ton haul truck. They’re as big as a two-story house and have 12-foot-tall wheels. The mine taught me how to drive them in about six weeks. All I had to do was show up with a pair of steel toe boots and a hard hat.

I’ll always have peace of mind because I did get that cup of coffee in the major leagues, and specifically hitting the one home run. Nobody can erase that from the record books. I would’ve loved to have been a superstar and made millions with everyone cheering for me. That wasn’t in the cards, but I can feel good about everything I did, especially due to the fact I had such a difficult journey.”

📸 Rushford in front of a mining truck during his time working at the copper mine.

Our own Marshall Garvey and former player Greg Pryor have a special story to tell. Read below!
08/08/2026

Our own Marshall Garvey and former player Greg Pryor have a special story to tell. Read below!

08/08/2026

My son and I lucked out at Giants FanFest in 2009. We’ll miss Mike Krukow.

Address

Sacramento, CA

Telephone

+19168136658

Website

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