Bob Dernier | |||
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Dernier as the Cubs' 1st base coach in 2011
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Center fielder | |||
Born: Kansas City, Missouri |
January 5, 1957 |||
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MLB debut | |||
September 7, 1980, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
October 1, 1989, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .255 | ||
Home runs | 23 | ||
Runs batted in | 152 | ||
Stolen bases | 218 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Robert Eugene Dernier (born January 5, 1957), also known as "Bobby", is a retired American baseball player. He was a center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs in the 1980s. The fleet-afoot 1984 Gold Glove Award winner was also known as "The Deer" to fans at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
After graduating from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, 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 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. Dernier was a member of the 1983 Phillies team, which won the National League pennant but lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, and the 1984 Cubs team which won the NL East but lost in the playoffs to the San Diego Padres. He homered leading off the first inning of Game 1 in the 1984 National League Championship Series 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 baserunning coordinator since 2007. He remained a Cub coach until 2012.