Don Baylor

I was a Don Baylor fan when he was a player, and have always thought he does a good job managing a team. Even though the Cubs got off to a poor start (because, like the Astros, much of their high-priced talent is either injured or underachieving this year), I figured Baylor was safe for the year, despite all the rumblings.

I was wrong. They canned him today.

Interestingly, the articles lists his career record as a manager. I thought it was better than that.

(07-06-02 Update) My old buddy Nick Russo, who owned and ran the best near-campus bar and grill I've ever been around (Ebbets Field, in Springfield MO), used to have a television sports show in Springfield. He was a Cubby fan, and Cubs games always had TV priority at his wonderful place. And one of the elements of his TV show was that he would make predictions. I'm guessing the most frequent prediction he ever made, in his great Bronx-Italian accent, was "And the Cubs will lose." That's probably the safest bet in sports (along with, the Red Sox will finish behind the Yankees) -- and no manager is probably going to change that.

And who wants the Cubs to start winning, anyway? I mean, they are lovable losers. If they were to start winning, it might interfere with important things, like drinking beer in the bleachers and watching the babes. We wouldn't want to take time away from the important pursuits of Cub fans with something as serious as a pennant race, or *gasp* playoffs!

[Posted at 11:59 CST on 07/05/02] [Link]