More "thoughts" from Sweatband McToothpick

[dalgreen]

He could say "That's not really an issue"

 

But instead, he talks about it repeatedly. He knows the media will portray it as something it's not, and he uses that to try to distract people from what happens on the field.

 

I'm all for letting go of Dusty, but it's wrong to say he has no impact on 2007. He's doing things right now with this team that may hurt them next year. And the media circus swarming around him could cause some problems if he starts laying blame on specific players, as he likes to do...

 

Again, I would be willing to bet that the media keeps bringing it up and that's why he repeatedly talks about it. After all, he would've brought it up all the time in San Francisco, last year and earlier this year.

[dalgreen]

He could say "That's not really an issue"

 

But instead, he talks about it repeatedly. He knows the media will portray it as something it's not, and he uses that to try to distract people from what happens on the field.

 

I'm all for letting go of Dusty, but it's wrong to say he has no impact on 2007. He's doing things right now with this team that may hurt them next year. And the media circus swarming around him could cause some problems if he starts laying blame on specific players, as he likes to do...

 

What's he doing right now that could impact 2007 moreso than Hendry's off-season and the manager for 2007 decisions?

 

I don't think he'd haveMORE impact. But he can still influence these players, and he can cause bad blood and tensions everywhere. HE can overuse pitchers, and teach batters bad habits. There's plenty he could do.

 

Again, if Hendry has any brain, there won't be many players back in 2007, so I fail to see what Baker can do to impact 2007. Pierre is Pierre and Jones is Jones. We have players who had bad habits before they even came to Chicago. It's just too bad that Hendry overvalued these guys. Cedeno wasn't ruined by Baker. If everything turned out the way we thought a year ago, Cedeno wouldn't have worn Cubbie pinstripes until September of this year. I still think Rothschild has more to do with our hurt pitchers than Baker did. In all of these years, I've yet to see or hear anything to suggest that Rothschild had differing views than Baker.

[halplm]

He could say "That's not really an issue"

 

But instead, he talks about it repeatedly. He knows the media will portray it as something it's not, and he uses that to try to distract people from what happens on the field.

 

I'm all for letting go of Dusty, but it's wrong to say he has no impact on 2007. He's doing things right now with this team that may hurt them next year. And the media circus swarming around him could cause some problems if he starts laying blame on specific players, as he likes to do...

 

Again, I would be willing to bet that the media keeps bringing it up and that's why he repeatedly talks about it. After all, he would've brought it up all the time in San Francisco, last year and earlier this year.

 

And I still say the professional thing to do would be to not talk about it as something more than it is. If it's a story, by all means he should talk about it. But if the media is FISHING for a story, like he says they are, he shouldn't give them that story. However, by giving them the story, he can attempt to gain sympathy, distract people from his horrible abilities as a manager, and have the front page story be about the racism he's the victim of, rather than the fact he overused all his pitchers and still blew a game the day before...

[dalgreen]

He could say "That's not really an issue"

 

But instead, he talks about it repeatedly. He knows the media will portray it as something it's not, and he uses that to try to distract people from what happens on the field.

 

I'm all for letting go of Dusty, but it's wrong to say he has no impact on 2007. He's doing things right now with this team that may hurt them next year. And the media circus swarming around him could cause some problems if he starts laying blame on specific players, as he likes to do...

 

Again, I would be willing to bet that the media keeps bringing it up and that's why he repeatedly talks about it. After all, he would've brought it up all the time in San Francisco, last year and earlier this year.

 

And I still say the professional thing to do would be to not talk about it as something more than it is. If it's a story, by all means he should talk about it. But if the media is FISHING for a story, like he says they are, he shouldn't give them that story. However, by giving them the story, he can attempt to gain sympathy, distract people from his horrible abilities as a manager, and have the front page story be about the racism he's the victim of, rather than the fact he overused all his pitchers and still blew a game the day before...

 

And who do you think is being distracted? Just about all the beat writers have said that it's time for the Cubs and baker to part ways, and with the booing Baker gets I'd guess that many, many fans aren't fooled.

[halplm]

He's trying to play to a larger audience. He knows he's done in Chicago. The Chicago papers and the fans don't mean anything to him.

 

He wants to paint a picture of himself to the national media. The people who've never watched him pull an insanely stupid double switch that might cost his team the game.

 

He's looking for another job, and I'm sure he'll get one. I just think the next team to have him should know what their getting, and the nation shouldn't have a bad opinion of Chicago and Cubs Fans!

 

Unless the Cards want him... then let him pull whatever wool over their eyes he can ;)

[badger1679666666]

Just like the Neifi Perez posts that for some reason are still out there. He's gone and instead of forgetting that he ever wore a Cub uniform, we have to still have topics relating to Perez.

 

That's because I'm scared to friggin death Detroit will DFA him, and the Cubs will be the ONLY team in MLB to offer him a contract again.

[CubsInNC]

He could say "That's not really an issue"

 

But instead, he talks about it repeatedly. He knows the media will portray it as something it's not, and he uses that to try to distract people from what happens on the field.

 

I'm all for letting go of Dusty, but it's wrong to say he has no impact on 2007. He's doing things right now with this team that may hurt them next year. And the media circus swarming around him could cause some problems if he starts laying blame on specific players, as he likes to do...

 

Again, I would be willing to bet that the media keeps bringing it up and that's why he repeatedly talks about it. After all, he would've brought it up all the time in San Francisco, last year and earlier this year.

 

And I still say the professional thing to do would be to not talk about it as something more than it is. If it's a story, by all means he should talk about it. But if the media is FISHING for a story, like he says they are, he shouldn't give them that story. However, by giving them the story, he can attempt to gain sympathy, distract people from his horrible abilities as a manager, and have the front page story be about the racism he's the victim of, rather than the fact he overused all his pitchers and still blew a game the day before...

 

True, as an oustanding field manager skilled in the art of public relations, the correct response is either "that is an internal matter" or "no comment." However Baker *is* a pretty nice guy. Horrible manager for a developing team counting on pitchers health for the future. But a nice guy. If someone asks him a question he's the kinda guy who will answer it, in a direct fashion (as it makes sense to him). You could ask him, as a media man, about how Darren's first day of school went, and while a good PR man would say "that has no relation to how this team performs" but Dusty would truly tell them. He's a manager. Not a speech writer, politician, etc.

 

I don't think in his mind that he's using those as distractions. People claim that he's clueless in terms of being a manager, how could he be clever enough to manipulate the entire mass media to distract them (and the management and fanbase) to the mess on the field? He talks about how the media guys used to be "friends" and spent all kinds of time with the ol' skool people. They reported on baseball, but they heard it all. Dusty's very old school, and if the last 4 years have taught us anything, it's that he's incredibly resistant to change.

[frostwyrm]

"I get racist letters and they are hurtful and I don't like it and it makes my job less fun. But I will still go out there and do my job. It doesn't effect how I manage." - Not making excuses

Yeah but he keeps bringing up the subject in the media, apparently so he can look like an underdog or a victim.

 

He brings it up or does the media ask him about it? It's hard for me to believe (even with Baker) that that is his response when asked, "What did you think of the ump's call at first base?"

He brings it up. In the latest example he actually read a racist letter to reporters and theatrically crumpled it up, then speechified about not letting bad people beat him down.

[A New Era]

I look forward to a time when reading a rather inocuous statement by Dusty isn't interpreted as making excuses for why the team is losing.

 

"I get racist letters and they are hurtful and I don't like it and it makes my job less fun. But I will still go out there and do my job. It doesn't effect how I manage." - Not making excuses

 

"D-Lee would have won us 10-15 more games." - ignorant, likely hyperbole, thinly vailed excuse-making. Shame on you Dusty

 

"The media has really changed in my time in this game. It's a lot more hostile now. I'll bet it's because they have more competition to get people to pay attention to their stories." - Not making excuses and, in my opinion, not far off base.

 

I don't think Dusty should be managing this team either, but come on folks, not everything the guy says should get people's truss in a tangle.

 

Dusty sucks. Stop defending him. Dusty is Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-d.

[CubinNY]

'They [The media]didn't necessarily squash everything or monitor everything. If something bad happened, they did their job and wrote about it. But they would report on the game more, rather than concentrate on reporting about the personal lives and personalities of the players. Now you can tell whether a guy likes you or dislikes you by the way he writes. What changed all this? I wish I knew all the answers. One reason is probably the media got more space and time to write about sports and more media outlets, like talk radio, television sports stations, and they grew more competitive to fill the increased space.

 

Well, I can agree with Dusty on this one. Bruce Miles is the only beat reporter of the Cubs to focus more on the game than on the personalities who play the game.

 

I don't even bother reading the Suntimes or Tribune/chicagospors.com any longer.

 

Sullivan should have been let go a long time ago and Kiley was already fired. I miss the days when Teddy Greenstein was the beat reporter for the Trib. I guess he did his job too well or something.

[swordsman]

I look forward to a time when reading a rather inocuous statement by Dusty isn't interpreted as making excuses for why the team is losing.

 

"I get racist letters and they are hurtful and I don't like it and it makes my job less fun. But I will still go out there and do my job. It doesn't effect how I manage." - Not making excuses

 

"D-Lee would have won us 10-15 more games." - ignorant, likely hyperbole, thinly vailed excuse-making. Shame on you Dusty

 

"The media has really changed in my time in this game. It's a lot more hostile now. I'll bet it's because they have more competition to get people to pay attention to their stories." - Not making excuses and, in my opinion, not far off base.

 

I don't think Dusty should be managing this team either, but come on folks, not everything the guy says should get people's truss in a tangle.

 

Dusty sucks. Stop defending him. Dusty is Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-d.

 

Your goat impression not withstanding, I am not defending Dusty's on field decisions. I am pointing out that the mob mentality is well on display lately.