Jay Mariotti Article

[DBAHO]

Didn't really take too long did it;

 

http://www.suntimes.com/output/mariotti/cst-spt-jay13.html

 

Nor does it make me believe Baker is necessarily long for the job. After declaring when he signed his $14 million contract that he was preordained to manage the Cubs, it's now clear he had no idea what he was getting into.

 

If in-game strategy and the handling of a pitching staff never have been his greatest strengths, what we've discovered the last 12 months is that Baker isn't the best handler of men. What happened to Dusty the players' manager, Dusty the faith healer, Dusty the clubhouse unifier? If he was hired to make Sosa happy, why is Sosa no longer here? If he was hired to keep the peace with the media, as Yankees manager Joe Torre does in a larger and much more demanding New York market, why are there continuing issues with writers and, of course, The Evil Stoney? Why, one week into the season, do the Cubs have strange clubhouse flare-ups every day?

 

But Baker opted for one of his "guys'' from the San Francisco days, utilityman Neifi Perez. He had his reasons, but what was surprising is how Hairston reacted. A week into the season, he spoke out against the move, made newspaper headlines and riled up fans already nervous that the season is heading south.

 

"I'm not a very good liar,'' he said, expressing that he's happy for Perez but tired of perceptions that he isn't an every-day player.

[YASNY]

In that article, he referred to Sosa being gone as "a noose without a head in it". Mariotti is fitting it for Dusty.

[Wedge]

I actually sort of appreciate the article. Mariotti is nothing if not slightly entertaining. I don't know what it is, but I can't help see parallels between Baker and Ty Willingham. Both had been fairly successful with teams on the west coast and talked up in the media as great coaches. Then they move to the midwest to "fishbowl teams" (i.e. teams under a high level of media scrutiny). Both had very successful first seasons that ultimately fell just short of championship expectations and then never matched those levels of achievement on the field.

 

With the personalities and tempers on that roster the past two years, the Cubs need somebody who is more Phil Jackson than "faith healer". They need a manager who's personality is robust enough to stand up to the players AND media, a guy like Ozzie, I think. That's one thing I noticed about Ozzie last year: he's great at getting along with the members of the Chicago Media. That probably comes from his connections to some of the reporters when he was a player.

 

My bottom line prediction: as Mariotti suggests, Dusty is out of Chicago at year's end after the Cubs miss the playoffs (or have an embarrassing 3 game sweep out of the first round). He then takes the job of another underachieving coast team (maybe the Mariners or As, depending on how they finish up).

 

EDIT: fixed spelling

Edited April 13, 2005 by Wedge

[YASNY]

You're right. At times, Mariotti can be entertaining.

 

Wood & Prior = Blue Cross and Blue Shield

[soxman352000]

You're right.  At times, Mariotti can be entertaining.

 

Wood & Prior = Blue Cross and Blue Shield

[AirScott]

I wouldn't read anything into this article, or anything by Jay Mariotti for that matter. all the guy does is piss and moan about everything, never having anything good to say. just once I'd like to hear him praise something.

[AirScott]

didn't Dusty Baker turn a pushover into a team that came within a few outs of the World Series? I'm a Sox fan, and hearing Cubs fans and Mariotti bashing Dusty Baker and Sammy Sosa is almost as bad as Yankee fans booing Jeter last year and Rivera this year.

[Wedge]

The problem with Dusty is that he took that team within a few outs of the world series in his first season, with a bit of luck. Thus, that sets the low-bar in the eyes of the fans and the media as the NLCS. He's going to have a tough time getting back to that level, thus any season afterwards that doesn't get there will be seen as a disappointment.

[Chisoxfn]

Mariotti is right though. Best things the Cubs could do is get rid of Baker. He's absolutely atrocious and I've never seen a guy ruin such a pitching staff by overworking his staff.

[danman31]

Mariotti is right though.  Best things the Cubs could do is get rid of Baker.  He's absolutely atrocious and I've never seen a guy ruin such a pitching staff by overworking his staff.

Well duh. I know you've been saying this all along and Cubs fans are beginning to come around to it. He was the guy to take that team one game from the WS even though any idiot could have managed that team to the playoffs and then some.

[The Critic]

I'll say it again: Baker, as a manager, is a substitute teacher.

He doesn't hold anyone accountable, and he defends them when they're 100% in the wrong ( such as the announcer debacle last year ).

It's no wonder players want to play for him - they can do and say whatever they want and he'll NEVER set them straight.

If they had a real manager in 2003, we Sox fans probably would have had to suffer the unthinkable.....so PLEASE, TribCo, NEVER fire Dusty the Pitcher Killer!!!!