Dusty Baker received racist, hate mail before being fired as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds earlier this week, according to CBS Sports.
"The last couple weeks, I've been getting a rash of hate mail, racial mail,'' Baker told CBS. "Maybe it is time to go. This is really ugly. There are all sorts of references to Barack Obama. So now I know where they are coming from. I don't know, maybe people are mad at him, so they don't like the idea of blacks in authority. I pissed somebody off, I guess."
Despite winning 90 games this season, the Reds announced they were unceremoniously dumping the three-time Manager of the Year winner last Thursday, just days after they lost out in a one-game, Wild Card playoff play-in game against Pittsburgh.
CBS reports the team decided to part ways with Baker after he stood up for hitting coach Brook Jacoby, whom GM Walt Jocketty wanted him to fire. "I wasn't testing anyone,'' Baker later told CBS. "I was just doing what I thought was right."
In 17 managerial seasons, Baker has won 1,653 games and is only one of three African Americans to manage a team in the World Series. He also played 19 big league seasons for the Braves, Dodgers, Giants and A's.
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