The Dusty Baker Era for the Cincinnati Reds continues for at least two more years, a wise decision made by a wise man to keep a wise manager.

Realizing the team is on a steady upward course, CEO Bob Castellini extended Baker’s contract by two years.

It is a move that is unpopular in some quarters, but a move that is definitely in the best interests of the Reds, who have won two National League Central Division championships in the last three years after the team was mired in mediocrity for 15 years.

His vociferous detractors blame him for the team’s postseason failures, three straight losses to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 and a five-game loss to the San Francisco Giants this year after they won the first two games on the road.

Whose fault was it that third baseman Scott Rolen made a 10th-inning error to lose Game 3 after Homer Bailey pitched seven innings of one-hit ball?

Whose fault was it that Johnny Cueto couldn’t last beyond eight pitches in Game One, forcing Baker to scramble his pitching rotation and finish the series without his best pitcher?

Whose fault was it that catcher Ryan Hanigan had a critical passed ball and didn’t swing at a 3-and-2 pitch on a hit-and-run that resulted in Jay Bruce being thrown out at third base?

Whose fault was it that the Reds had the tying run at the plate in Game 5 in each of the last four innings and scraped only one run out of it?

Whose fault was it that his best run-producer, Joey Votto, became nothing more than a singles and walk hitter the last month of the season and into the playoffs?

“It is Dusty Baker’s fault because he can’t manage in the postseason,” they say in a nauseating refrain.

A manager can do only so much — provide leadership and direction and put players into situations where they are most likely to succeed. He can’t swing the bat, he can’t throw the ball, he can’t run the bases.

Baker probably did the best managing of his long and storied career in 2012 and pulled off the near impossible.

He lost his closer, Ryan Madson, and two important bullpen occupants, Nick Masset and Bill Bray, before the first pitch of 2012 was even thrown.

He lost considerable playing time from third baseman Scott Rolen to back and shoulder problems. He lost second baseman Brandon Phillips and shortstop Zack Cozart for considerable time to injuries. He lost his best player, Joey Votto, for nearly six weeks when the team only led the division by one game.

Baker did the best he could, which was significant. He was forced to juggle batting orders, put players in spots they were not comfortable (Phillips in clean-up and lead-off, Cozart at No. 2, Drew Stubbs at lead-off and No. 2).

He adjusted masterfully as the season progressed, even through a period when he missed several games with an irregular heart beat and a mini-stroke.

The result was 97 wins, tying Washington for the most wins in the majors. That, though, wasn’t enough for many fans, most of whom expected a World Series championship or the season was a failure.

So much has to happen, so much has to go right, so much luck has to plop in your lap, for that to happen. And nothing Baker did impeded that.

A bad manager loses his players’ respect, loses their confidence in his decisions, lineups and batting orders. That never happens with Baker. Never. His players accept without challenge what Baker does, the ultimate respect. They love playing for him and it is also why the Reds were so much fun to watch this season. They never gave up, never quit on him. They thought they could win every game.

The fact they lost the last three games of the season at home is a blemish on them and their inability to hit at crucial junctures. It is not a pox on Baker.

That Castellini and general manager Walt Jocketty recognize this is to their credit. They didn’t react to the knee-jerk criticism from disappointed and disenchanted fans.

There is no harder man sitting in any managerial chair. There is no man who cares more for his players. There is no man who protects his players with more fervor than Dusty Baker.

He arrives at the park early each day and works diligently with all available information — scouting reports, statistical sheets, match-ups, injury reports. Don’t fans realize that he wants to win as much, probably more, than they want to see the team win?

It is said by some that Baker draws a pass from the media, that he is seldom criticized.

That’s because before and after games he answers every question about his lineups, his batting orders and his decisions. He has an explanation for every move he makes and it always makes sense. They don’t always work, but he does everything with planned reasoning.

What more can a manager do? Of all the criticism, he just laughs and says, “No matter what I do, people will criticize me for it.”

True. And that’s what makes baseball such a great game. Everybody thinks they know the game inside and out and that their opinion is the right opinion.

As for the Cincinnati Reds, Baker’s opinion is the only one that counts — right or wrong. He makes them with his head, not his heart.

Castellini and Jocketty both agree: Dusty Baker is the right man for this team, the one who can keep them improving toward their mutual goal. He showed that this year with 97 wins despite enough adversity to make a grown man cry.

But as we all know, “There is no crying in baseball.” Instead, Baker rolled up his sleeves and did the best job anybody could have done with the 2012 Reds.