If you're a sports fan in Chicago, I'm sure you've heard Dusted Baker complain about not being given unquestioned adulation or blind devotion from the people in Chicago. Well, let me pile on.
First, a history lesson: having seen two coaches turn good teams into pieces of crap (George Perles and Bobby Williams), I'm sure I can tell when a team is turning to horse shit underneath someone's supposed watch. And, to be honest, I saw that Dusted Baker would let the team turn to crap when, after that foul ball bounced off the glove of the now forever scarred Bartman, he never thought about going out to the mound and calming down Prior. While there were players out there, it was Dusted Baker's job.
Since then, I've listened as the Cub Pitchers' arms have been repeatedly injured, the Cubs go from in control of their destiny to out of the playoffs in less than a week (complete with a victory after they were out of it) at the end of last season, and a team built to win playing under five hundred. And all this, with the front office supporting the team with spending.
Understand this, Dusted: you're in a job where you're judged by what you do with what you got. You were given a plum job, an audience that would cheer if the Cubs put out a team of Junior High kids, and a front office that gets you what you need. Guess what: you've been failing, and badly.
You think you're being persecuted? Try having "For Sale" signs posted in front of your house. Try threats made to your children (you know, the ones you hide behind every chance you get in the post-game interviews). Try being booed in your home stadium. Haven't experienced the above yet? Then shut up.
Perles had built his team to a place of pure glory before the collapse, hence his still being welcome in East Lansing. Williams was a nice guy who, while good as a running back coach, was out of his league as the team choach; he has since found consistent work as a running back coach in both College (LSU, under Saban) and the Pros (Detroit, and now Miami).
I'll bet that once Dusted Baker gets cast out of Chicago, he'll run to the safety of San Francisco and be welcomed back with open arms (Thus proving that even Utopias have their flaws). He'll probably do baseball games until he grows old, and gloat over the games his beloved Giants win over the Cubs. Of course the fans in San Francisco will probably coo their approval when he talks about the "abuse" he suffered in
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