Dusty Baker

“The leaves are falling like raindrops,” commented my wife on our hike today along a trail at Morton Arboretum, west of the city. She was right. In fact, not only could you see the leaves fall, you could hear them, too. I wonder if the ten-year old walking past us in his Astros’ tee-shirt noticed. Off of last night’s 6-5 ten-inning loss to the Phillies in game one of the World Series, a whole bunch of Astros’ fans may have been distracted today. Their team blew a five-run lead. The last time that happened was twenty years ago, when the Giants did it in the 2002 World Series. What do the Astros and that Giants’ team have in common? Dusty Baker as manager. I don’t get the affection thrown Baker’s way. His teams—Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals, Astros—have all lost in the postseason. So far, Baker hasn’t won a World Series for the life of him. Then again, this is a man who made a habit of doing his Sergeant Schutlz imitation when it came to Barry Bonds and PEDs. Baker knew nothing, nothing, about that. Whether or not the Astros rebound to win the Series, people will keep pushing to get Baker into Cooperstown. In which case, put his plaque next to Tony La Russa’s and Bud Selig’s. Sergeant Schultz, each and every one.