I'm not sure if anyone has posted this before (way too lazy to look back at all the responses), but how much of the outrage towards firing Baker has been because Baker is a media darling? The media loves Dusty and seem to have a tough time being extra critical of him. While even I think that he has done a great job staying fairly up to date, (certainly better than Collins, Ron Washington, or Davey Johnson) the managerial blunders have been inexcusable for a person who was brought in with two jobs, fix the clubhouse culture and take a very talented team past the first round of the playoffs. He even has said as much that he inheirited possibly the most talented team he has ever been able to manage. He still didn't get the job done.
The ownership is a side show circus act, but he didn't live up to his end of the bargain. The team could have beaten the Cubs (and likely would have been stomped on by LA) but Baker's decisions to use Solis, Werth, and giving too much rope to Gio in Game 5 made the difference. I like the guy, but now there is sufficient data on what the team needs as someone to run the ship day to day. They need someone who can deal with Harper's ego. They need someone who is good with modern statistics and how to use them. It's a young man's game.