Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 23

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013 COMPLETE. IN-DEPTH. DEPENDABLE. C5 DUSTY REDS CAREER Year Record Finish 2008 74-88 .457 Fifth 2009 78-84 .481 Fourth 2010 91-71 .562 First 2011 79-83 .488 Third 2012 97-65 .599 First 2013 90-72 .556 Third results 2010: Lost 3-0 to Phillies in NLDS 2012: Lost 3-2 to Giants in NLDS 2013: Lost 6-2 to Pirates in wild card game by the last six games he managed with the Reds, not the six years he spent in the dugout. The Reds blew a chance to host the National League wildcard game by losing the last five games of the regular season, three to the Pirates, and then lost 6-2 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Baker was preparing to manage next season. He signed a two-year contract after last season and figured the Reds fire him with a year remaining. Then he said he had a conversation with general manager Walt Jocketty on Thursday in which Jocketty said he was looking to replace hitting coach Brook Jacoby. was like, Baker said. not doing anything in my mind that deserved that.

I said, man, if we get rid of Brook, we might as well get rid of me, got called up the office, and I thought I was going to discuss future, and I was told my services were no longer Jocketty disputed the fact that the firing had anything to do with Jacoby. The last six games, especially the final one in Pittsburgh, had almost everything to do with it. definitely a tough Jocketty said. and I have been friends for quite a while. We looked at how the team had performed this year, especially in the last few weeks of the season.

We just felt it was time to make a Baker said the explanation he received was, club finish very strong and we lost quite a few in a row. We made a poor showing in the wild-card game. They were going to go in a different direction, and maybe the team needed a different The failures in October 2-7 in postseason games were the biggest marks against Baker in his six years. The Phillies swept the Reds in the National League Division Series in 2010. The Reds blew a 2-0 lead to the Giants by losing three games at home in 2012.

This year, everything fell apart at the end. only did the batters go into a big slump, which makes you look flat if not scoring Baker said, on the other hand, we pitching well either. We were in our bullpen every day. We were trying to preserve as much of our bullpen as we could for the playoffs. We play any phase of the game well that last This was third managing gig in the major leagues following stints with the Giants and Cubs.

had only one year off (2007) since he started with San Francisco in 1993. looking to the Baker said. do anything about (the firing). I appreciate my time with the Reds. Maybe the time was long enough.

The years, the hate mail, maybe it was time for me to move on. (NFL coach) Bill Walsh said maybe you should move every five years. Perhaps he was right. they can bring in somebody else who can do a better job. not retiring.

not taking the year off as suggested. I feel better this year than I did last year at this point. I really take care of myself and watch my weight. I devoted all my energy to this team and to A baseball man to the end, Baker closed the conference call by thanking the local media for their coverage and saying, going to watch the game now. I enjoy watching Contact this reporter at 937328-0351 or email David.

mark hurt manager Baker continued from C1 BASEBALL get the Reds past the round in those three play appearances. The last week of the 2013 season did him in. As the Reds began a three- game series with the New York Mets, they still had a chance to win the National League Central. After winning the game, they lost the next two. They still had a chance to win the NL Central with three games left with the Pirates in Great American Ball Park.

And they had a chance to claim the advantage in the wild card if they won two of three. They lost all three and were forced to take a losing streak on the road. And lost. The Reds were stone cold that week. The bats disappeared completely, making the team look lethargic and uninterested.

Castellini reportedly pleased with the way Baker handled the incident in his when second baseman Brandon Phillips verbally dressed down writer C. Trent Rosecrans. Phillips made disparaging remarks about Rosecrans and, on camera, Baker laughed and said, is between you The front also was unhappy Baker publicly said he had to to get Billy Hamilton called up in September, implying that some in the front were against it. And when Baker was asked before the last week of the season if the team felt a sense of urgency, he said no, noting that the team just needed to go out and play the games. While Baker was not saying that winning games was not important, his comment was misunderstood.

Talk radio and the fan base were enraged. Ownership clearly believes the Reds had the personnel to do much, much better. The starting pitching, top to bottom, was as good as it gets. The closer, Aroldis Chapman, was dominant. In Shin Soo-Choo and Joey Votto, the team had two on-base machines.

And in Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce they had two players who were the best at their positions. There are strong feelings that Baker, always known as a manager, was not tough enough, was too low key, was not a on the with umpires. The thinking was that his laid- back demeanor permeated the clubhouse and the team had no swagger, no in their bellies. So Baker is out and the Reds begin a search for his replacement. A good man has lost his job, but managers are hired to be Even Sparky Anderson got Contact this contributing writer at Bad became last straw McCoy continued from C1 The Gerrit Cole struck out and walked one in six dominant innings.

He retired 11 consecutive batters at one point. ELSA POOL ASSOCIATED PRESS Cole, Pirates even series Wire services Gerritt Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled even with the St. Louis Cardinals. The hard-throwing rookie gave up two hits in six dominant innings and also had an RBI in his postseason debut, Pedro Alvarez homered for the second straight day and the Pirates beat the Cardinals 7-1 Friday to even their NL division series at one game apiece. what been seeing all Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

saw a focused man that was ready to Cole faced the Cardinals for the time and left most of them shaking their heads, striking out and walking one. After allowing Carlos double with one out in the the 22-year- old retired 11 straight before Yadier Molina led the with a homer. Braves 4, Dodgers 3: Mike Minor pitched six strong innings, Jason Heyward had a two-run single and host Atlanta evened the NL division series at one game apiece. The Braves turned three double plays, the most important coming to end a Dodgers threat in the seventh with Atlanta clinging to a 2-1 lead. Red Sox 12, Rays 2: Jon Lester allowed three hits in 7 innings and host Boston Red took advantage of poor Tampa Bay defense in a fourth in Game 1 of the AL division series.

The Rays fell apart when a ball fell between two and Jonny Gomes then drove in two runs in the fourth. Yankees Girardi new contract: A person familiar with the negotiations said the New York Yankees made a contract to manager Joe Girardi, whose deal expires at the end of the month. Harvey out for 2014: Right-hander Matt Harvey will have surgery on a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, sidelining him for at least a year. A-Rod sues MLB, Selig: Alex Rodriguez sued Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig, accusing them of a designed to smear the character of the Yankees star. The suit was during hearings in the grievance by the Major League Baseball Players Association to overturn 211- game suspension.

Pujols sues former Cardinal: The Albert Pujols sued Jack Clark over comments on a local St. Louis radio show accusing the three-time NL MVP of using steroids. Rookie allows two hits, drives in run against Cardinals. PLAYOFFS Many applaud dismissal as manager By David Jablonski Writer CINCINNATI No manager in Reds history took more criticism than Dusty Baker, if only because he joined the Reds in the age of Twitter. The Reds announced his on Friday, and more than a few fans included the words, in their tweets.

The Fire Dusty Baker account celebrated as if the Reds won the World Series. With Twitter, fans whose only previous outlet to vent was talk radio could now let the world know how disgusted they were with Baker every time he batted Zack Cozart second or called for a bunt. knows what I should Baker said last week. can do my job, but never done Someone told Baker last week they often stuck up for him on Twitter. have to stick up for Baker said.

really need it. I care. been doing pretty good for the last 20 Despite the backlash against him over the years, Baker will go down as one of the great managers. He ished 509-463 (.524 winning percentage) with the Reds. Only Sparky Anderson (863-586, .596) and Bill McKechnie (744-631, .541) won more games.

Baker was the Reds manager to last six years on the job since Anderson. teams won 74 and 78 games in his two seasons. The Reds became a winner in 2010, going 91-71 and winning their division title in 15 years. They took a step back in 2011 (79-83), but re turned to form in 2012 with another division title (97-65). respect the job done here the last six General Manager Walt Jocketty said.

helped us win and get to the We have had some good teams. helped us get to that level. We just advanced far enough into the play We were in a good position last year, and it work out. We were in a good position this year to get Even though the Reds battled consistency issues all season, Jocketty was they could pull it together in the nal week. think we felt we had a very good chance, especially with Johnny (Cueto) coming back and pitch ing well and Marshall was back, and Ludwick was starting to swing the bat Jocketty said.

just had some guys that Jocketty mentioned the inability to hit left-handed pitching. Jay Bruce, Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo, three of the top four hitters, all bat left-handed. As a team, the Reds hit .241 against lefties, compared to .252 against right-handers. A southpaw, Francisco Liriano, shut the Reds down in the wild card game. still had (Brandon) Phillips and (Ryan) Ludwick, and (Todd) Frazier, from time to time, helped us from the right Jocketty said.

of all, we just need to be more consistent and play good defense and run the bases As good as the pitching was all season, it let the Reds down at the end, too. Mat injury, like the year before in the game of the NLDS, proved to be something the Reds overcome. Baker said Latos tried to get it going again in a bullpen session before the throw his breaking Baker said. one of his pitches. He throw his curveball.

The guys that were available were (Mike) Leake and Cueto. Leake had terrible numbers against the Pirates, probably as bad as he had against anybody. We went to Johnny Cueto. He was ready for the task. There are no Social media abuzz after long-awaited decision is made.

EARLY CANDIDATES FOR REDS MANAGER Now that the Cincinnati Reds have said long, farewell, to Dusty Baker, the speculation begins as to who will be next in the managerial swivel chair. Some early speculation, in alphabetical order: 1 DAVEY JOHNSON want out of Washington, but the Nationals told him 2013 was his last year. Johnson never got to what he started in Cincinnati in 1995 when Marge Schott pushed him out the door. Does he want to manage? 2 BARRY LARKIN is content as a baseball analyst on television, but he managed Team Brazil in the World Baseball Classic. While he has no other managerial experience, he would be a popular public relations move.

3 JOE MORGAN always said he want to manage but as a close advisor to general manager Walt Jocketty maybe he can be talked into it. And he does have a statue in front of the stadium. 4 BRYAN PRICE was Dusty pitching coach and an extremely popular coach in the clubhouse. Baseball people believe he would be an excellent manager. But like Baker, he is very low key and soft-spoken.

Is that what the Reds want? 5 JIM RIGGLEMAN managed the Class AAA in Louisville and has major league managerial experience with the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals. Do the Reds want experience or a fresh face? 6 CHRIS SPEIER was bench coach and stepped in as interim when Baker was suspended for three games in 2010 for the with the St. Louis Cardinals and in 2012 when Baker a minor stroke toward the end of the season. Speier has an edge to him, a personality, but do the Reds want one of guys to replace him? 7 RICK SWEET was highly successful as a manager for the Class AAA Louisville Bats and managed many of the current Reds. He has been with several organizations in their minor- league systems and is a roving instructor with the Reds.

Do the Reds want to stay within the system? Hal McCoy REDS FAN REACTION Dusty Baker helped build the Reds into contenders over the past few seasons, which included two National League Central titles, but the team was unable to make any of that success translate to the postseason. CHARLES LECLAIRE USA TODAY.