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As an avid fan of the Cincinnati Reds, I’ve held just two simple requests for the organization in 2007 (besides trading Adam Dunn for better pitching, duh!). Play
competitive baseball and above all else, hire a big-name manager.

In turn, I am pleased with the Reds decision to name Dusty Baker as the Redlegs’ new skipper.

Now, I’m upping the ante of my request from competitive baseball to winning baseball starting in 2008.

To
be honest with you, when I first heard reports about the possibility of
Baker becoming the Reds newest manager, I wasn’t thrilled. Certainly,
there were better candidates for the job such as Joe Girardi, Tony
LaRussa or, dare I say, Joe Torre. In fact, I even had my own list of potential candidates and Baker’s name wasn’t on that list either.

After
all, common sense tells Reds fans that only a select few managers would
even have the resume and the managerial touch to break this team’s
12-year postseason drought. At first glance, Baker seemed far from
qualified for this job.

So, let’s examine the facts.

It’s
important to note that what a specific manager is famous for and what a
specific manger actually accomplishes are two very separate issues.
This is why Reds faithful can’t figure out what it is that team owner
Bob Castellini and GM Wayne Krivsky like about Baker.

What Baker is famous for is mismanaging his bullpens,
allowing his starters to throw far too deep into ballgames, and he
tends to baby the team’s star players regardless of their lack of
hustle on the field.

Instead,
what Baker should be known for are his career winning percentage of
.527. That’s better than Lou Piniella (.517), Terry Francona (.509),
Jim Leyland (.496), Bruce Bochy (.489) and Phil Garner (.483). Baker’s
winning percentage has been good enough for 10 in-contention finishes
in 14 years of managing, and let’s not over-look his three Manager of
the Year Awards. Only LaRussa (4) and Bobby Cox (4) have won the award
more times among active managers. Not too shabby.

The
two pitching careers Baker’s known for abusing during his four-year
tenure with Chicago are Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. However, both these
talented hurlers experienced health problems before Baker’s affiliation
with the team.

For
one thing, Prior’s heath issues have more to do with bad luck than
extended pitch counts. Take for instance Prior’s unusual collision with
Marcus Giles on the base path in 2003, then he blew out his Achilles
the following year before being struck on the pitching elbow off a line
drive from Brad Hawpe’s bat in 2005. Yeah, Baker definitely could have
prevented all this misfortune.

As
far as Kerry Wood, his arm problems developed during the 1999 season,
four years before Baker stationed himself at Wrigley Field. Next, Wood
developed knee problems that limited his availability to pitch, not
Baker’s fault either.

On
the contrary, during Baker’s first year in Chicago (2003) then
22-year-old Mark Prior made 30 starts finishing the year 18-6. Wood,
then 26 years old, finished 2003 with a 14-11 record in 32 starts. They
both combined for seven complete games. It’s possible that Baker
overused these young arms, but it’s not certain he doomed their careers
either.

Coincidentally,
the only Giants pitcher that Baker is accused of overusing was the
mechanically unsound Giants closer Robb Nen. Coincidentally, Wood and
Nen also share violent delivery styles on the mound, as well as
extended stays on the DL.

What I do know is Baker turned a 2002 Cubs team with a 67-95 record (the 1992 Giants went 72-90 before Baker took over in ’93 winning 103 games) into a club that got five outs from a World Series appearance in 2003.

Of course, Dusty can’t be blamed for the Steve Bartman incident, nor could he be blamed for Alex Gonzalez’s uncharacteristic error following it (Gonzalez only committed 10 errors in 2003
and was fourth among starting NL shortstops with fewest errors). Those
things were out of his control. However, as manager, he shoulders the
burden of the responsibility, but that also shouldn’t take away from
what he accomplished as the manager of the Cubs.

What
I believe Castellini and Krivsky see in Baker is credibility, again,
something this organization is desperately is need of to succeed.

Furthering
the point, Baker has won 90-plus games five times during his career. On
the other hand, the Reds have managed just five 90-plus wins seasons
during the last 29 years.

Also,
Baker has managed in four postseasons during his 14 years as a skipper
in the big leagues, including the 2002 World Series.

The Reds have made the playoffs just four times in the last 32 years. Yes, the Reds could use Baker’s baseball cred.

Dusty is far from a flawless big league manager,
then again, what manager has a perfect record? Baker may not even be
the perfect fit for Cincinnati with its hitter friendly ballpark, weak
pitching staff and plethora of young talent. However, thankfully, he’s
also not Bob Boone, Dave Miley or Jerry Narron.

Ultimately, Baker’s tenure in the Queen City will be determined by his players, GM Wayne Krivsky and Bob Castellini’s checkbook.

The
team has a solid core of players in Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Homer
Bailey, Brandon Phillips, Josh Hamilton, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Of
course, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. status is still up in the air.

Nonetheless,
I applaud Mr. Castellini for choosing a big name field general found
outside the organization (something the Reds haven’t done since 1990:
Lou Piniella), sparing this city of the small market excuses and taking
charge of his mission to re-establish a once proud franchise.

Hell,
if the Rockies can make the World Series playing in Coors field and the
Marlins have won two championships what excuses are left?

With
this said, I for one will be looking forward to watching Baker sport
bright red wrist bands, a toothpick and a winning mark in 2008.