CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Monday the hate mail he's received won't affect whether he wants to stay in Chicago if asked to continue to manage the team.

Baker's job status will be determined when the season is over; he's in the final year of his contract with the Cubs. A story in Monday's USA Today said Baker's wife, Melissa, no longer attends home games at Wrigley Field because of hostile fans, and that Baker has received a lot of racist letters.

"You realize some people feel the way they feel," Baker said Monday when asked about the hate mail. "It's sad that you have to get those. But, on the other hand, it's something I experienced not directly but indirectly with Hank Aaron. It prepared me for now even though I didn't know it would prepare me for now.

"You realize that in some people's minds, things haven't changed, not as much as we'd like to think everybody's changed," Baker said. "That hasn't affected my opinion [about Chicago] at all. I haven't gotten some in a while. Most of these that I got were during the period when I told you I didn't want to leave. A lot of this is old news; some of it is still new news."

Baker also received hate mail when he managed in San Francisco, but said he's received more in Chicago than during his 10 seasons with the Giants. The good mail outnumbers the bad, he said.

"It's outnumbered a couple hundred to one," Baker said, "and I get as much mail as anybody on the team."

The message in letters from fans, Baker said, "depends on if we're winning or losing, or if somebody agrees or disagrees with my decisions."

"Quite frankly, I'm sorry it even came out," Baker said of the story.