The Great Communicator

I have to admit, I've quite known what to make of Dusty Baker. I admired the way he turned around the losing culture of the Cubs in 2003, and I like that he doesn't hide his obvious distaste for Tony LaRussa. But everyone warned us that Dusty wasn't a great in game manager, but that was the price for having a guy who players loved to play for, because he basically let them be "men" and he always talked to them about any change in their role, rather than letting them find out in the press. Of course, in 2004 that meant that the players basically did whatever the hell they wanted, antagonizing opponents, umpires, fans and broadcasters, while a team that was picked to win the NL pennant slumped to a third place finish. Some of the luster came off Dusty after last season, and today's story in the Tribune doesn't help.

In it, Baker says he's eager to clear the air with Sammy Sosa(huh?). And there's this quote: "I'm going to move on, but I'd like to find out what's repairable first," Baker said. "You have to know what's wrong first". It's a little odd that a guy who's supposed to have his finger on the pulse of the modern athlete, had no idea that there was a problem with his highest paid, most visible player. Dusty, do yourself a favor, don't bring up Sosa's name for the rest of the year. He was traded out of town, in part to try and wash the bad taste of 2004 out of our mouths. It's time to let Sammy and the 2004 season rest in peace.

And I wanted to say thanks to Chuck over at Ivy Chat for plugging my site. If you're reading this, it's likely that you came over from there anyway, but if you didn't, I'd recommend that you give it a look.
http://ivychat.blogspot.com/