CINCINNATI -- One very bad week clinched Dusty Baker's fate. The Cincinnati Reds decided they weren't going to bring him back.

Not after they ended the season with six losses in a row, including the wild-card playoff game. Not after they failed to get past the opening round of the playoffs for the third time in a row. Not with all the booing at Great American Ball Park.

Instead of keeping Baker around for one more try, the Reds fired him on Friday, parting ways with the manager who led them to their best stretch of success since the Big Red Machine but couldn't get them deep into the postseason.

"Maybe the time is long enough because I was starting to get quite a few jeers and some hate mail and stuff," Baker said during a conference call. "So maybe it was time for me to move on."

The move came after the Reds lost the wild-card playoff in Pittsburgh 6-2 on Tuesday night, their sixth straight loss.

"It's going to take a couple of days just to pack my stuff up,'' Baker told USA TODAY on Friday. "I wasn't ready for this. I really wasn't. I thought I'd still be here.''

The final-week fade was a major factor in the decision, general manager Walt Jocketty said in a phone interview.

"Just the way we played lately was a factor," Jocketty said. "But I think the way the season ended was kind of the final decision.