Bob Dernier

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Bob Dernier

|image=Bob Dernier 2011.jpg

|caption=Dernier as the Cubs' 1st base coach in 2011

|position=Center fielder

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1957|1|5}}

|birth_place=Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 7

|debutyear=1980

|debutteam=Philadelphia Phillies

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 1

|finalyear=1989

|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.255

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=23

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=152

|stat4label=Stolen bases

|stat4value=218

|teams=

As player

Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1980}}–{{mlby|1983}})
Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1984}}–{{mlby|1987}})
Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}})

As coach

Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|2010}}–{{mlby|2011}})

|highlights=

Gold Glove Award (1984)

}}

Robert Eugene Dernier (born January 5, 1957) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and 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.

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

Biography

File:Bob Dernier Gold Glove Award, Chicago Cubs Store, Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois (42675551404).jpg, received by Dernier]]

After graduating from high school in Raytown, 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.{{cite book | editor = Norman MacLean | year = 1986 | title = 1986 Who's Who in Baseball | url = https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinbaseba198600macl | url-access = registration | publisher = Who's Who in Baseball Magazine Company, Inc. | location = New York}}

Dernier was traded along with Gary Matthews and Porfi Altamirano from the Phillies to the Cubs for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz on March 27, 1984.[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/28/sports/phillies-and-cubs-in-trade.html "Phillies And Cubs In Trade," United Press International (UPI), Tuesday, March 27, 1984.] Retrieved January 9, 2023. He was the leadoff hitter for the Cubs' 1984 National League 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/06/18/sports/local/100spl_080618_replays.txt|title=Curt's Replays: Major Leagues can thank Helena for some big guns|last=Synnes|first=Curt|date=2008-06-18|publisher=Helena Independent Record|accessdate=2008-07-14}} 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.{{cite web|last1=Synness|first1=Curt|title=Dernier was part of star-studded Phillies teams|url=http://helenair.com/sports/dernier-was-part-of-star-studded-phillies-teams/article_72a3919c-a210-523f-88bc-d0b26c375e61.html|website=Helena Independent Record|accessdate=October 25, 2016|date=June 18, 2004}} Dernier was named the Cubs major league first base coach on August 23, 2010,{{cite news |url=http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2628450,bob-dernier-chicago-cubs-coach-23.article |title=Chicago Cubs names Bob Dernier first base coach |date=2010-08-23 |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |accessdate=2010-08-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827152549/http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2628450%2Cbob-dernier-chicago-cubs-coach-23.article |archivedate=August 27, 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 2011 season.