, 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. 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. 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. 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 to lead off the first inning of Game 1 in the
1984 National League Championship Series, the first postseason home run hit by a Cub since
Phil Cavarretta of the
1945 World Series. The home run kicked off a 13–0 victory for the Cubs. Dernier batted .235 in the series with just four hits and five runs scored as the Cubs lost the series in five games. 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
base-running coordinator since 2007. He remained a Cub coach until the end of the 2011 season. ==See also==