I do think Dusty a decent guy who tried his best but will only remember the neg's...

1. Still can't quite understand handling of pitching staff in '03 LCS...left Prior in way too long in a blowout, then didn't pull him earlier in G6...but he had no bullpen left by then. How'd that happen?? Borowski seemed to be done, Farnsworth unreliable and Remlinger also not to be trusted.

They left lefty Estes (also a head case but some experience) off roster and didn't use Clement..why?? was he hurt?? Surely they should have had some other options besides washed-up Dave Veres in Game 6.

If I could ask Dusty one Q, and I do hope he'll talk at one point about his Cub tenure (his no Q's exit from Wrigley was weak), it would be: would you do anything differently in G6?? Would you have gone out to try to calm down Prior, after the Bartman ball, or after the Gonzalez error, in retrospect?

Given the way it turned out with 8 Fla. runs of course you'd try anything different. If he won't admit to some second-guessing of himself there it shows he's just stubborn, or delusional. I was there and the whole ballpark changed moods in that half inning after Bartman interferred...Dusty did nothing. It might not have made a difference, but we'll never know.

2. Drove me crazy with some of his platoons in last year esp. at 2B. I don't think he ever gave Walker, or Hairston, 2-3 weeks solid of starting to see what they could do...as a result both were disappointing performers. And he was too locked into lefty-right matchups...putting Walker at 1B in Lee's absence was a joke and hamstrung their offense during May-June slide.
3. Failure with Patterson organization-wide, but sure looked bad to see a kid with such tools go down the tube.

Hendry should have fired him much sooner, but assume they saw as lost season and might as well bite the bullet on salary instead of paying off Dusty...would have liked to see what an intermim manager could do with last year's assemblage for a few months.

Now it's onward and upward...but Dusty should be man enough to face his critics back in Chicago one day and tell his side.

I don't see him gettng another mgr. job soon either. Left last 2 teams on shaky terms.

correction...on above post

That was one of the best, and saddest, years of my life. I'll remember the best part.

When you say "the right conditions", those conditions might be having players under his coaching for the first time. I say this because the 2002 SF WS team had a lot of major contributions from players who had just gotten to SF that year or the year before. Same in Chicago, his coaching only seemed efficient the first two years. Maybe players thrive under his relaxed atmosphere at first and then get tired of it?

Dusty's always seemed the type of manager who can take a good team and make them great, a guy who's good at getting that extra production out of veteran guys who know first-hand how few the opportunities to win truly are.  There was a reason he piled up all those Manager of the Year awards out in SF...and it wasn't just Bonds.  He consistently squeezed more out of those players than anybody expected.  And it's certainly not his fault that Prior, Wood and DLee wound up on the DL or that Rams and JJ took April off or that Murton took a nap for a few months.  Where he failed was in lining up for too long behind guys like Neifi and Rusch.  There weren't any managers who would've won with our boys last year, so I think all this anger at Baker is a bit misplaced.  He deserved to go because the team, organization, and fans needed a fresh start.

On another note, just want to say that I'm a relatively new poster, and I've been loving the discussion on these boards. Thanks for having me.

for now I remember him from this year, when he continually left me dumbfounded, and more than once cursing at the tv or radio

give it a little time and I think perhaps I'll remember sitting in my car when I heard he was the new manager, and being so excited, and the crazy season that followed

but whenever someone say "Dusty Baker" to me I will forever have the image of him chewing a toothpick be the first thing I think of

Than Tom Trebelhorn, Jim Lefevbre, and Jim Riggleman combined. Must be a reason that trilogy of managers have never landed a job since.

Add Don Baylor.

Isn't it odd that most (all?) of the Cubs managers of the past 20 years have never managed again? Or am I forgetting a name?

5 outs away his first year and almost won the wildcard his 2nd year.his last 2 years wood/prior k,o,d him.too many injuries.i do believe if the team stayed healthy it would have turned out better for johnny b. baker.

He can be a very good manager. Those circumstances were here in '03; the Cubs just didn't close the deal. Players genuinely enjoy playing for him, and not just because of the perceived "lax" clubhouse. He's a very complex man. I wish he would have "taken" to Chicago much more than he did. I also wish he wouldn't have played the victim so much.
I will say that I believe Jim Riggleman was a better manager than he gets credit for. His win-loss record is not good, thanks to some horridly constructed Cubs team (thanks to Ed Lynch) and his record in San Diego. Teams will have a hard time selling that kind of record when they go to hire a new guy, unless that guy's name is Gene Mauch.