A Dusty Collection Of Sorry Former Cubs

Every time the Cubs play Cincinnati this year, I'm amazed anew at how former genius Dusty Baker seems to be trying to reassemble the team that got progressively worse every year under his stewardship on the North Side.

The list of former Baker Cubs currently on the Reds' roster isn't long -- Corey Patterson, Paul Bako, Jerry Hairston and Kent Mercker -- but there are some key names on that list. (For the record, former Cub David Weather is also on the Reds, but his Chicago tenure pre-dates the Baker era.)

Take Patterson. He, perhaps more than anyone, symbolizes Baker's failings, as Dusty stuck with the much-hyped Patterson in Chicago long after his .190 average in September of 2004 helped sink the team's playoff chances that year.

We're talking about a guy who hasn't even had the career of his erstwhile stablemate Gary Matthews Jr. But that didn't stop Baker from starting Patterson in center field on freaking Opening Day for the 2008 Reds. (I looked it up.)

Patterson patrolled the ground in between Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. Which of these things is not like the others? Why, the only one who survived the Reds' recent trade frenzy, of course, although that's not really the differentiating factor.

Bako and Hairston stand out, too. In Bako's case it's because he's what passes for an everyday catcher in Cincinnati even though he was too old five years ago to play the same role for the 2003 playoff Cubs. Hairston had the misfortune of being the Cubs' key acquisition in the trade that sent away Sammy Sosa before the 2005 season (although, in fairness, Hairston arguably had a better year than Sosa in '05.)

But what do you expect? The only good decision Baker ever made was where to bat his superhuman slugger -- Barry Bonds in San Francisco, Sosa in Chicago. Or didn't you notice how average he became after the steroid era ended?

Obviously, roster decisions are not entirely at Baker's discretion. But I can pretty much guarantee that these roster decisions were his. After all, whoever had the savvy to get two all-star-caliber young pitchers for Josh Hamilton, and the stones to deal sentimental favorite Griffey, did not put Bako and Mercker on the team.

And by the way, in case there are any nattering nabobs out there, I'm aware that the 2004 Cubs actually won one more game in the regular season that the 2003 squad. I stand by my assessment that the Cubs got progressively worse every year under Baker. There are many ways to qualify 2003 as a more successful season than '04, not the least of which is that the Cubs advanced to the NLCS that year. And we're not going to talk about what happened when they got there.