If it's on the front page it must be credible

Okay, it finally made it to the front page of ESPN.com: Why Dusty doesn't deserve the blame for the Cubs' dismal season.
Now well I agree that Cubs fans have a tendency to place blame on the wrong person (or goat) I don't think Dusty deserves to get off the hook here. Apparantly Gene Wojciechowski does, and provides a horrible argument in defense of the toothpick-chewing chump. Let's take a looksey

(Jim Hendry should not fire Dusty) ...not because Baker hasn't made mistakes -- he has, plenty of them -- but because the Cubs' latest descent into baseball hell is a lesson in teamwork. Rarely has everyone in a franchise contributed so evenly to a 31-54 record, the third worst in the majors.

Is it just me, or does poor "teamwork" generally reflect poor leadership, which should come foremost from the manager...duh Gene.

[The Cubs] couldn't field (two errors) or run (after jogging down the first-base line on a drive off the right-field wall to start the seventh, Aramis Ramirez was thrown out at third by, oh, five feet when he tried stretching the sure double into a suicide triple attempt).

Ah, thanks for proving to me what I instantly suspected: that you wrote this story after having the game on in the background and then looking at the box score, and not actually watching the game closely.
I happened to be at this game, and both errors could have been scored hits had the Miller Park scorers been the homers that they have at...say...Wrigley Field. One was a line drive that bounced off Derek Lee's glove (a play he makes if his wrist is healthy, and a play that maybe half of the league's first basemen make cleanly). The second error was another hard-hit groundball that Ronny Cedeno took a second too long to get out of his glove and to first base (it probably should have been an E3 instead of an E6, since Lee should have still made the catch).
And on that Ramirez play (and it's important because Gene will mention it a second time), two things: One, that was one of the best throws I've ever seen in my life...ever. Yes, Ramirez would have been safe had he been hustling out of the box, but if Ramirez made that play 100 more times, he'd be safe somewhere around 95 times. Second, and most important, Dusty Baker's reaction when Ramirez returned to the dugout? Chewing the hell out of that toothpick, when he should have been chewing the hell out of Ramirez. So once again, by trying to get Dusty out of the noose, you've only tightened it Gene.

Hendry is a smart guy. Smart enough to understand that Baker never had a chance this season, not when Mark Prior and Kerry Wood made their annual trips to the disabled list. Or when Derrek Lee broke his wrist. Or when Michael Barrett decided to go Oscar De La Hoya on A.J. Pierzynski and pick up a 10-game suspension. Baker was short starting pitchers and a left fielder. When Lee missed more than eight weeks on the DL, it wasn't Baker's fault the remaining eight starters forgot how to hit.

Theeeeeere it is. The obligatory injury excuse. Let's start with Prior and Wood. The time where their injuries can be used as an excuse is long gone. Anyone who doesn't expect them to miss half the season has not been paying attention to baseball the last three years. Losing Derrek Lee is a blow, yes, but when a team falls apart because of the loss of one guy, who's fault is that? Again, all signs point to the manager. Same with the Barrett incident. Maybe if Dusty would come out of the dugout and stick up for his players once in a while, they wouldn't resort to "going Oscar De La Hoya" on the opponent. By the time Barrett's hook was flying through the air, Ozzie Guillen was running out of the dugout. Dusty was leaning back and watching the show.

Okay, I'm done for now. Feel free to add your own reasons why Dusty actually deserves the blame. Or, if you are an idiot, why he deserves a contract extension.