Joe Posnanski, Dusty Baker, and Ron Washington

Joe Posnanski has a blog post about Dusty Baker getting fired after the Cincinnati Reds got knocked out in the Wild Card Game by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Its worth a read if only because Posnanski's stuff is always worth a read, but a lot of what he was writing about Dusty Baker made me think of the Rangers and Ron Washington.

In particular, Posnanski talks about how Baker gets criticized (not undeservedly) for some of the on-the-field decisions he makes, but notes that there are things we, as fans, don't see -- "the way a manager carries himself, the atmosphere he helps create, the respect he commands in the clubhouse, the confidence he inspires."

There's also the fact that Dusty, as Posnanski writes, has helped make teams very successful, but has never been able to win it all, and how that tends to eventually wear on everyone: "It crushes the spirit. It breaks bonds. It puts everyone in a grumpy mood."

I don't have to tell Ranger fans about Ron Washington's Rangers having their spirits crushed by not quite getting over the top.

Anyway, its a good piece, and worth checking out.