This is a Little Annoying, Too

Before I go to my little (yes, little) rant, I want to preface everything with the following…

I am not the biggest fan of Dusty Baker. I am also not among the Dusty haters either.

There. It’s put out for all to see. And that brings me to this.

I cannot understand why on a daily basis that calls for Dusty to be escorted out of town were plastered all over Twitter. I understand that some believe his decisions can be of the boneheaded variety. I will readily admit to seeing a few perceived gaffes myself. There were some questionable moves made throughout the 2011 season.

I will be the first to admit that Baker came into the Reds organization with little on his resume’. I will also be one to tell you that Baker will be leading the dugout in 2012. There will be groans of disapproval, I’m sure of that.

You might believe Baker isn’t the right guy because of he is reluctant to play the younger guys. The Reds roster isn’t exactly overflowing with veterans, yet Baker would eschew the less experienced and younger player for the one that has the time under his belt. And sometimes talent level would not be the determining factor.

Take the many times I heard of the need for Chris Heisey to get more playing time. That might be the one complaint I heard and read more than any. Yet, Heisey was at best, a platoon-type guy as far as his playing time was concerned. Heisey did prove himself a little more in 2011 and there is a chance we will see more of him in 2012.

That’s just the biggest example. There were others. It’s hard to bypass the other moves that Baker made where fans though he cost them a game.

Where Baker has the cache’ is simple…the guys will play for him. They want to win for him. Well, the want to win for themselves and the team also, but Dusty has an affect that cannot be seen or measured. It’s simply not within the sight of the naked eye. It’s something that lurks within each player.

Now, for those that are anti-Baker, to some extent, I do feel your pain. Maybe not the extent you do, but there are some pangs of agony left over from 2011 that dwell within me, too. And I am lead to a couple of more things here.

Dusty Baker is by far the only manager that receives daily criticism. You can look at any other team’s message boards regardless of how well or poor that team is performing and fans will be screaming the manager must go. It happens to Jim Leyland. It happens to Joe Girardi. It happens to Ron Gardenhire. It happened to Tony LaRussa. All of have had their decisions highly criticized within the fanbase and the media that covers that particular team. It goes with the territory. It cannot be avoided.

So, I leave you with this. I leave you with a question. If you don’t want Dusty Baker in the Reds dugout leading the Reds, then who do you want? There’s a couple of “big names” out of a managerial job right now, and I’m open for suggestions. If you have a list, put that in the comments section.

We’ll see if it’s sunnier on the other side.