Thanks Dusty

By: Jon Kerr

I was strolling down Clark St., just in front of Wrigley Field earlier this week. I had just finished meeting with a ticket broker, discussing a business transaction. As I glanced over towards the new Ernie Banks statute, I noticed a man sitting on the new benches that surround Banks. Dressed all in black, clutching a cell phone, I wasn’t sure if I recognized the hovering figure until he spoke into his phone-

“Dude, it’s a clear day.”

Then I knew. It’s Dusty. Back in Chicago, the Cubs former manager was spending part of his off day at his old place of employment. I’m sure he wanted to see the new landmark, which looked stunning on this clear day. As I drove away, I gave myself a few minutes to sort out how I felt. Former Cubs managers are a lot like old girlfriends - seeing them again is bound to stir up some emotion. And as I turned onto Lake Shore Drive I felt…grateful.

Yes, grateful.

Baseball fans in Chicago have a tendency to place too much blame on franchise futility with the manager. When things go bad, as they so often do, it’s open season on the guy who fills out the lineup card. Remember this time last year? All I heard about Lou Pinella was how the “game had passed him by”, “he’s out of touch with today’s players”. Nonsense. All Pinella needed was a little time to get to know his players, get rid of the ones who weren’t with the program (Michael Barrett, Cesar Izturis), and let the talent on the roster win ballgames. Which it eventually did.

You see, players win games, not managers. At most, you can site a handful of games every year where the manager is responsible for a win or a loss. The value of baseball managers at the major league level is mostly determined by factors that are difficult to document - psychological, inspirational - qualities from a leader that are arguably more important than their ability to execute a double switch.

I will always be grateful to Baker for how he blew into town. Fresh off a World Series with the Giants in 2002, Baker arrived with instant credibility. When asked about the ridiculous Billy Goat curse and the franchise’s hollow history, Baker played dumb.

“I don’t know nothing about no curse” or words to that effect. These were uttered at his opening press conference in 2002.

My reaction?

That’s what I’m talking about! At that point, I didn’t care if Baker could fill out a lineup card as strategically as Tony LaRussa. I cared that he didn’t care about anything that happened at Clark and Addison before he showed up.

The first year, it worked. Raising the expectations of a franchise, it was no coincidence the Cubs made it all the way to the NLCS. But for all of Dusty’s uplifting clubhouse demeanor, the 2003 team never would have gotten five outs away from the World Series without the following names: Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Borowski, Sosa and Alou. They made the pitches, they hit the home runs, they made the key saves.

When things started to go bad late in 2004, the ‘In Dusty we Trusty’ T-Shirts were replaced by “Baker Blows”. Last I checked, which was while I was writing this column, Baker didn’t blow that three-run ninth inning lead to the Mets in late September, all but sealing the Cubs fall from the wild card. No it was LaTroy Hawkins. But the damage was done. Dusty never recovered.

Now let’s be clear. You don’t lose 179 games in 2 seasons without some blame, as Baker did in 2005-2006. Once Derrick Lee got hurt early in the 2006 season, Baker seemed to lose interest. And I will never forgive him for trotting Mark Prior back on the mound after the once-phenom collided with Marcus Giles in 2003. I believe this decision had a lot to do with Prior’s lingering health issues.

But as I came to a stop at the northbound light on Clark, I glanced over at the man who at one time was discussed more in Chicago barber shops than Drew Peterson. I wanted to roll down my window and say something, but the light was turning and Baker was yapping into his cell phone. Here’s what I would have said given the chance:

Thanks Dusty. Thanks for being the first Cubs manager to understand that for the franchise to move forward it had to forget about its past. Thank you for having the guts to say what needed to be said.

Dude, good luck with the Reds. And Corey Patterson still can’t play.

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Jon Kerr is a freelance writer. A graduate of Michigan State University, he is a former sportscaster at CLTV. He is also a Cubs season ticket holder and lifelong Chicagoan. Jon can be reached at jkerr1970@hotmail.com. He's got a blog, too.

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