This HAD to be a player right?

[Brownie]

Karma's a bitch, huh, Dusty?

Wow.

Yeah, Dusty was probably a little bit of a fraud, but I look back on those years and wonder who's most culpable for the missed opportunity:

1) Andy MacPhail?
2) The Chandler-McCormick-FitzSimons TribCo. brain trust?
3) Jim Hendry?
4) The crack player development staff?
5) The revolving door of trainers?
6) Dusty?
7) Sam Zell?

In San Francisco, he had a roid monster (as he had in Chicago), and he burned out a shit-ton of pitchers, but he got them to a Game 7 of the World Series.

Here, he had plenty of faults, but he had the Cubs up 3-0 in the eighth inning with one out and a guy on base when the bottom fell out. He poorly managed the pitching staff those final 10 innings (and really all four years he was there, but it was always known he couldn't handle a pitching staff very well.)

In 2004, his top two pitchers from the year before spent considerable time on the DL and the team had three other pitching spots locked up with Maddux, Zambrano and Clement. Clement regressed in '04 and Dusty had to trot out the likes of Meat Tray and Glendon Rusch often. Even so, if Ryan Dempster and LaTroy Hawkins make just a handful of better pitches, they make the playoff again.

In 2005, the Cubs were again saddled by injuries. Only Zambrano and Maddux managed to pitch >200 innings. Nomar got hurt early, greasing the skids for more Neifi! And honestly, who on the Cubs roster in '05 was a better option than Neifi? Can we really blame Corey Patterson on Dusty?

Baker kept with the assumption, whether he falsely built it up or if it was from bad information, that Prior and Wood would return and it would be like making a late-season trade.

2006 was a clown college, but the best hitter was hurt 2 weeks into the season and what kind of help did Dusty get? John Mabry? Phil Nevin?

In Cincy, he's burned out a couple pitchers, he's managed the second playoff team in history to be no-hit, but he's won 2 division titles, and the Reds might not be a bad bet to make the World Series. He's also second winningest Cubs manager in terms of post-season victories (Chance 11, Baker 6, Grimm 5, Anson 5*, Mitchell 2, Frey 2, McCarthy 1, Zimmer 1, Piniella 0, Hartnett 0).

So, godspeed Dusty. It's amazing what three consecutive brutal seasons can do to you.

No. Stop it. Dusty ravaged Mark Prior's arm in spectacular, historical fashion. It's mind-boggling how stupid he was. He doesn't get a pass because for those injuries, because he was responsible for them.

Just to play Devil's Advocate, who's more culpable: the guy who gives a teeanager a bunch of liquor and car keys, the guy who lets the teenager have a few drinks before advising him to take the Porsche out for a spin, or the teenager?

As for Prior, Dusty shouldn't have kept him in the game after his collision with Marcus Giles. But where's the trainer on this subject? Did Hendry/MacPhail/FitzSimons (the three superiors above Dusty) address this subject with him? Hendry could have activated Prior with the caveat that his pitch count stay at a certain level. After 2003, what abuse of Prior is on Dusty Baker?

Dusty certainly shares culpability, but the lost decade of the aughts was an organizational failure, and it really starts at the Tribune Tower.

Wendell Kim having early stage Alzheimer's during his time with the Cubs is also very troubling. He was a guy that Dusty Baker relied on quite a bit. I did a search of Andy's posts skewering Wendell Kim, and Alzheimer's explains quite a bit. For example he told the press following a loss to the Cardinals that he wouldn't have sent Aramis Ramirez home from second on a single if it was Jim Edmonds out there. Problem was, it was Edmonds out there.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

No. Stop it. Dusty ravaged Mark Prior's arm in spectacular, historical fashion. It's mind-boggling how stupid he was. He doesn't get a pass because for those injuries, because he was responsible for them.

Just to play Devil's Advocate, who's more culpable: the guy who gives a teeanager a bunch of liquor and car keys, the guy who lets the teenager have a few drinks before advising him to take the Porsche out for a spin, or the teenager?

Okay. So, I gather that Prior is the Porsche and Dusty is the teenager in this analogy... What's the booze and who's the pusher?

And who hires a teenager to manage their team of cars?

[J. Walter Weatherman]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

[CT III]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

I think that what TJ is saying is that Darren's presence at all those press conferences may not have been a coincidence.

[Oleg]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

I think that what TJ is saying is that Darren's presence at all those press conferences may not have been a coincidence.

Was Darren drunk?

[BH]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

I think that what TJ is saying is that Darren's presence at all those press conferences may not have been a coincidence.

Was Darren drunk?

If he was, who was pushing him to drive the porsche, Prior?

[flannj]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

I think that what TJ is saying is that Darren's presence at all those press conferences may not have been a coincidence.

Was Darren drunk?

If he was, who was pushing him to drive the porsche, Prior?

No, no, no Darren has Alzheimer's.

[CT III]

And how is Dusty like a teenager in the first place?

I think that what TJ is saying is that Darren's presence at all those press conferences may not have been a coincidence.

Was Darren drunk?

If he was, who was pushing him to drive the porsche, Prior?

No, no, no Darren has Alzheimer's.

Which is why he funded Sam Zell's PE purchase of the Tribune.

[Internet Apex]

Drug dealers!

[Fork]

Drug dealers!

In the community!

[Armchair_QB]

Karma's a bitch, huh, Dusty?

Wow.

Oh, please.  It was a "mini-stroke" and he's fine.  Besides, it's fucking Dusty - and you, like every other cunt here, hated him like Yetti hates puberty.

Speaking of depressing stories related to members of the Cubs coaching staff during that time:

http://infinitebaseball.blogspot.com/2011/12/wendell-kim-rounding-third-and-headed.html

So maybe baseball wouldn't have been the cure-all for Jim McMahon. As for Wendell, think of all the memories of 2003 and 2004 he's permanently blocked out, so there's that.

But Christ: Dusty's two third-base coaches were a guy in early stages of Alzheimer's and a guy who had a bit of a drinking problem. You gotta be kidding me.

Refresh my memory, who was the other third base coach? Speier?

And of all the mistakes that Dusty made right before the 2003 NLCS and World Series were cancelled with one out in the eighth inning, the one that is absolutely infuriating is that he wasn't fucking smart enough to have Sweaty Joe up and throwing either at the start of the eighth or right after Castillo got on base.

He burns out at least two starting pitchers but he's fucking afraid to let his closer throw an extra two-thirds of an inning to end the fucking series? Fuck him.

[SKO]

Karma's a bitch, huh, Dusty?

Wow.

Yeah, Dusty was probably a little bit of a fraud, but I look back on those years and wonder who's most culpable for the missed opportunity:

1) Andy MacPhail?
2) The Chandler-McCormick-FitzSimons TribCo. brain trust?
3) Jim Hendry?
4) The crack player development staff?
5) The revolving door of trainers?
6) Dusty?
7) Sam Zell?

In San Francisco, he had a roid monster (as he had in Chicago), and he burned out a shit-ton of pitchers, but he got them to a Game 7 of the World Series.

Here, he had plenty of faults, but he had the Cubs up 3-0 in the eighth inning with one out and a guy on base when the bottom fell out. He poorly managed the pitching staff those final 10 innings (and really all four years he was there, but it was always known he couldn't handle a pitching staff very well.)

In 2004, his top two pitchers from the year before spent considerable time on the DL and the team had three other pitching spots locked up with Maddux, Zambrano and Clement. Clement regressed in '04 and Dusty had to trot out the likes of Meat Tray and Glendon Rusch often. Even so, if Ryan Dempster and LaTroy Hawkins make just a handful of better pitches, they make the playoff again.

In 2005, the Cubs were again saddled by injuries. Only Zambrano and Maddux managed to pitch >200 innings. Nomar got hurt early, greasing the skids for more Neifi! And honestly, who on the Cubs roster in '05 was a better option than Neifi? Can we really blame Corey Patterson on Dusty?

Baker kept with the assumption, whether he falsely built it up or if it was from bad information, that Prior and Wood would return and it would be like making a late-season trade.

2006 was a clown college, but the best hitter was hurt 2 weeks into the season and what kind of help did Dusty get? John Mabry? Phil Nevin?

In Cincy, he's burned out a couple pitchers, he's managed the second playoff team in history to be no-hit, but he's won 2 division titles, and the Reds might not be a bad bet to make the World Series. He's also second winningest Cubs manager in terms of post-season victories (Chance 11, Baker 6, Grimm 5, Anson 5*, Mitchell 2, Frey 2, McCarthy 1, Zimmer 1, Piniella 0, Hartnett 0).

So, godspeed Dusty. It's amazing what three consecutive brutal seasons can do to you.

No. Stop it. Dusty ravaged Mark Prior's arm in spectacular, historical fashion. It's mind-boggling how stupid he was. He doesn't get a pass because for those injuries, because he was responsible for them.

Just to play Devil's Advocate, who's more culpable: the guy who gives a teeanager a bunch of liquor and car keys, the guy who lets the teenager have a few drinks before advising him to take the Porsche out for a spin, or the teenager?

As for Prior, Dusty shouldn't have kept him in the game after his collision with Marcus Giles. But where's the trainer on this subject? Did Hendry/MacPhail/FitzSimons (the three superiors above Dusty) address this subject with him? Hendry could have activated Prior with the caveat that his pitch count stay at a certain level. After 2003, what abuse of Prior is on Dusty Baker?

Dusty certainly shares culpability, but the lost decade of the aughts was an organizational failure, and it really starts at the Tribune Tower.

Wendell Kim having early stage Alzheimer's during his time with the Cubs is also very troubling. He was a guy that Dusty Baker relied on quite a bit. I did a search of Andy's posts skewering Wendell Kim, and Alzheimer's explains quite a bit. For example he told the press following a loss to the Cardinals that he wouldn't have sent Aramis Ramirez home from second on a single if it was Jim Edmonds out there. Problem was, it was Edmonds out there.

What? Seriously? Does it matter what abuse AFTER 2003 is on Dusty Baker? It's the abuse IN 2003 that absolutely wrecked him. I for one, don't exactly wish death on the guy, but fuck him. He's guilty.