Major League Baseball

Dusty Baker: I once smoked a joint with Jimi Hendrix

Published Oct. 21, 2015 1:17 a.m. ET

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Long before he was a Major League Baseball player and manager, Dusty Baker was into music.

The former two-time All-Star grew up in a household with parents who loved music, and he, too, fell for the blues. In light of his music-loving side, Baker has written a memoir called "Kiss The Sky" about his experience attending the famous 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which featured legendary performers such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, Grateful Dead and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The New Yorker's Charles Bethea promoted the memoir with an excerpt and interview with Baker. Among the gems shared in the feature is that Baker says he once smoked a joint with Jimi Hendrix.

The marijuana dalliance with the flamboyant guitartist came a year after the music festival, shortly after Baker made his MLB debut with the Braves.

The "no grass" rule was a reference to a rule Baker and his buddies had in place when they attended the festival, not wanting to jeopardize their athletic futures.

By age 19 Dusty Baker had already recorded two hits in the major leagues and smoked a joint with Jimi Hendrix. 

Most of this cool anecdote should not surprise us. Baker has always seemed like a down-to-earth, friendly guy. Heck, even his own players have said that he was maybe even too friendly as a manager. Maybe that's just because he was able to relate to them so well.

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