is dusty baker the worst in-game manager in baseball?

exhibit a:
bottom of the fourth inning, alou at second, sosa at first. no score. the cubs haven't been hitting for a week. do you ask todd walker to bunt (maybe he can do it...)? nope. you ask him to pop out. then you ask derrek lee to do the same. after a walk, prior grounds out to end it.

exhibit b:
it's the bottom of the ninth. you've got two outs and paul bako up with nobody on. fact is, we know bako won't start anything, but the chances of any bench option starting anything are slim. do you save your top bench hitter (michael barrett) for extras? nope...you use barrett, who grounds out and wastes his only chance.

exhibit c:
it's the bottom of the tenth inning. let's emphasize that the team hasn't strung together a series of hits in a week. you've got a pinch hitter due up, followed by corey patterson (who's forgotten how to hit) and nomar. you've got one shot this inning, and that's your leadoff thunder. do you use ben grieve, who was brought here to provide the thunder? nope. you use tom goodwin, who you somehow 'trust' despite the fact that he hasn't done a thing in two seasons. 1-2-3 in the tenth.

exhibit d:
top of the eleventh. following adam dunn's leadoff single, a strikeout, stolen base, and groundout have put him to third base. red-hot javier valentin (the only hotter player is kearns) at the plate with first base open. no-batta, no-batta anderson machado (.223 in triple-a in 2004) on deck. do you walk valentin? nope. you allow the game-winning hit.

now, the fact that everybody (except sammy, who's even hitting relatively hard outs) has forgotten how to hit is a problem. but so is the fact that dusty baker has seriously mismanaged things all season long. continuing to use latroy is one example. standing up for his players after fundamental errors, rather than criticizing them. allowing crap like 'get the tv guys off the charter' to continue.

i understand that dusty's belief is to stand up for his guys and instill confidence and be behind them all the way, and that's nice to a point. but when you're the most painful team to watch in baseball, you've got to kick 'em in the pants at some point.

by the way, the cubs are now 19-29 in one-run games. wanna know who's worse? kansas city, detroit and arizona.

i mean, you want them to win at this point, but it's absolutely hopeless. overcoming this one-game deficit theoretically isn't impossible, but making up a game on houston, who has won 15 straight at home and is now hosting the lowly rockies, seems far-fetched.

the good news is that the cubs play at 2, the astros at 7, and the giants at 9 on friday. it'll be fully possible to follow all three games, which is nice.

i didn't go see mike watt tonight.


i think kerry probably 'won' the debate. he didn't look flummoxed nearly as much as president bush. both stayed 'on message,' i thought, and i thought that kerry did a nice job of handling president bush's constant accusations of 'mixed messages.' i also don't think kerry came off looking like a snob, and bush probably came off looking like an idiot. but he's done that for four years now.

i think the race probably isn't over yet, right?