Kuzul

by Lake Cruise, September 26, 2010 

Startled by the news that Joe Torre is vacating the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dugout next season, I started to wonder if Saint Louis Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa needs to resign.

Torre’s decision resulted in Peter Gammons also questioning Tony La Russa’s future, and Gammons mentioned Saint Louis as a possible destination for Torre if La Russa steps down.

It would be a unique role reversal: Tony relieved Torre as the Cardinals’ skipper in 1996.

It appears that the Dodgers’ young and rising core players outgrew Torre, and it appears to me that Tony La Russa has grown bored with his championship core in St Louis. 

Speculation on La Russa’s future has been almost nonexistent in the St. Louis media until this past week when the Cardinals collapsed to the abyss behind the Cincinnati Reds.

And it was also revealed that Colby Rasmus was on the outs with La Russa and that the Cardinals’ brass had favored Rasmus over La Russa.

In most cases, players lose if they challenge La Russa: the franchise leader in managerial wins.

The question is then:  “Does Rasmus’ challenge mark La Russa’s reversal of fortune?”

La Russa was once untouchable: he’s overcome popularity and power struggles with Major League Hall of Famers and All-Stars Ozzie Smith, Ron Gant, Jose Canseco, and Scott Rolen.

The mighty Cardinals’ offense of the 2004 season, featuring Albert Pujols, Rolen, and Jim Edmonds was one of the most feared Cardinals’ lineups ever.

Rolen challenged La Russa for most of their time together with the Cardinals and by 2007, Scotty was gone.

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak wants a core of Pujols, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter as future closer, Matt Holliday, David Freese, Yadier Molina, John Jay, and Colby Rasmus.

Pujols, Holliday, and Rasmus could match Pujols, Rolen, and Edmonds for the next few years.

It’s been a historic Cardinal run of division championships for La Russa: in the last 10 seasons, the Cardinals have finished first 7 times:  2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009.

He guided the ball club through two major tragedies: Darryl Kyle’s and Josh Hancock’s deaths.  And Tony later helped rebuild Mark McGwire’s image.

Trailing only two legends, Connie Mack and John McGraw, for most wins by a Major League manager, La Russa was the first manager to win pennants in both leagues and he is the second of two mangers to win the World Series in both leagues (Sparky Anderson was the first to do it).

In 2004, Tony took the Cardinals to the World Series for the first time since 1987. 

Then with the worst ever regular season record for a Major League championship team, the Redbirds won the World Series 4 – 1 against the Detroit Tigers in 2006.

Quirky moves like batting the pitcher eighth, falling asleep at the wheel of an idling SUV at a green light in Florida, being accused of cleansing the team of African American players, and infighting with his own Hall of Fame caliber players helped to identify his personality.

General opinion on La Russa’s future as Redbirds’ manager is divided in typical St. Louis style: the city may be the largest “de facto segregation” city in America. 

Four unique Italian American influenced surnames enjoy a special affinity among many Redbirds’ fans:  Cary, Garagiola, Berra, and La Russa. 

Former Major League players and sports entertainment legends, Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra grew up on the same block in St. Louis’ famous Italian American neighborhood:  The Hill.

One truism about the best fans in baseball is that as long any player or coach performs in winning Cardinals’ fashion on the diamond, then Redbirds’ fans will respect him. 

Yet the Cardinals have found few black players rosterable during La Russa’s regime.

This is a franchise that is proud of its minority player record:  Pujols, Cepeda, Brock, Gibson, Flood, Smith, George Hendricks, Lee Smith, Terry Pendleton, and Vince Coleman. 

But these days, Willie McGee ain’t walking through that club house door. 

In 1996, Tony inherited a team that included Ozzie Smith, Ron Gant, Brian Jordan, Dmitri Young, Ray Lankford, and Willie McGee. 

There was only reserve, Randy Winn, and fresh faced rookie John Jay on the roster in 2010.

Cardinals’ purists expressed in private that bringing in Mark McGwire, a hitting coach in disguise of La Russa’s humanitarian hire, was a disgrace: the latter’s biggest PR mistake. 

McGwire enjoyed fan support as the new hitting coach, but he failed promising infielder Brendan Ryan who was mired in the .220’s after batting .292 last season. 

McGwire’s fan support slipped after the team batting average dipped below last year’s (.261)

Turns out Tony’s top PR blunder was allowing the large African American fan base’s discontent to brew by not bringing in star-caliber African American players while other teams were.

La Russa was accused by Ozzie Smith, in 1996, of being a big, fat, and bold liar, and La Russa admitted that he sometimes exchanges heated words with Pujols.

Both players are icons in St. Louis’ black community.

Ron Gant once accused La Russa of having a problem with black players.  But who is Ron Gant?

African American discontent with baseball is old news, but in St. Louis, the American baseball Mecca to some, their waning loyalty is something serious. 

But is this La Russa’s fault?  After all, who was he given to work with? 

Who could the Cardinals have signed instead of Matt Holiday that would satisfy the hunger for a star black player in St. Louis?  No one comes to mind.

To be fair, La Russa boosted the careers of Dave Stewart and Ricky Henderson in Oakland, and Tony clashed with Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Colby Rasmus, and Felipe Lopez. 

The way the Cardinals clashed with much success against the top teams in the NL this season, yet they flopped against lesser squads, leaves Cardinals’ Nation crystal balling for answers.

The Cardinals are 28-22 against Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, and Cincinnati, but they are 39-45 against teams with losing records.

The blame has to go to the manager: it’s obvious that he has lost control of the team.

Felipe Lopez experienced his worst MLB season this year, and he became late, or AWOL on a few occasions as his playing time receded in the last few weeks.

La Russa losing the team makes my stomach feel rotten to the core.

The Cardinals have the core talent to compete for a championship every year for the next five years.  A fresh face at the helm will also reinvigorate the team’s young and rising star players.

Rasmus was the stud of the Cardinals’ farm system before being called up, and he is a fan favorite, and many believe he is on his way to becoming a perennial All Star. 

Then the ugly rumors started to swirl about Rasmus demanding for Mozeliak to trade him due to a shortage of playing time attributed to a strained relationship with Tony La Russa.

But in public, Rasmus made it quite clear that he wants to stay in St. Louis and that his relationship with La Russa is fine. 

Mozeliak went on record to say that Rasmus’ frustration with playing time had been brewing. 

Déjà vu all over again: Scott Rolen’s saga had the same flavor.

The Cardinals’ GMs official statement showed Cardinals’ fans that Rasmus was the Kobe of the Cardinals and that La Russa was Redbirds’ Shaq.

All of a sudden, Rasmus’ playing time increased, and he went on a tear after he was set free: he was in specific productive while hitting in the third spot for the ailing Pujols.

The Cardinals have Rasmus, 24, under contract for four more years, and Redbirds’ brass realizes it would be foolish to risk another Scott Rolen like drama. 

Rolen’s new manager, Dusty Baker, got the most production out of Scotty this year since Scott was a Cardinal, and Dusty out coached Tony down the season’s stretch starting after the infamous brawl and subsequent series sweep with and by the Cardinals in August. 

Who knew that Rolen and his brash teammate, 2B Brandon Phillips, would get the last laugh on La Russa this season?

For these reasons, Mr. La Russa, please, take one for the team.

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With news that Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus has requested a trade, a team with an already cloudy future did not get any clearer. 

Here are five reasons why Cardinal fans’ motto for the rest of the season should be “playoffs or bust.”

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St. Louis Cardinals fans, dust off your sirens, prepare your white flags, and clutch your shiny red buttons.

For the first time since 2003, it’s panic time.

After sweeping the Reds in Cincinnati to take a one game lead in the division and looking like prime pennant contenders in the National League, the Cardinals have been, well, terrible.

Against mediocre competition (their opponents over that span are a combined 355-443), St. Louis has gone 5-12, getting swept by Houston, and losing series to last place Washington and Pittsburgh, as well as the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.

Meanwhile, the Reds have beaten down on a weak schedule of their own, going 13-4 and taking a commanding eight game lead in the National League Central. St. Louis also trails Philadelphia by five games in the Wild Card race.

So how did it get this way, and who’s to blame?

The biggest blame can be placed on the offense. Since the Reds series, the Cardinals have averaged 4.2 runs, gone deep 0.9 times, and struck out 6.4 times per game. They have scored three runs or less in 10 of their 12 losses. They’ve made fourth and fifth starters look like aces. In fact, two of their wins came against former Cy Young winners Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. However, they’ve been handled by John Lannan, J.A. Happ, Madison Bumgarner, and Dave Bush, among others.

The pitching, which has been shouldering the team most of the season, has snapped under all that weight. Staff ace Adam Wainwright has lost three straight starts for the first time in his career. Co-ace Chris Carpenter has been roughed up as well, losing his past two starts. The only bright spot on the staff has been Jaime Garcia, who has gone given up just five runs in his three starts since Cincinnati, going 2-1 over that span.

Maybe some of the blame can be placed on the front office. After all, they traded Ryan Ludwick in an effort to acquire Jake Westbrook, basically swapping a slugging outfielder for a starting pitcher, something they already have a plethora of. They traded a need for a luxury. In fact, this trade may be the root of the problem. Granted, Ludwick has cooled off considerably since moving to PetCo Park, a notorious pitchers’ haven. His average has dropped to .221, and he his OPS has dropped to .649, well below his .280/.350/.512 line from 2007-09 with the Cardinals. Conversely, Westbrook is 1-3 with a 4.03 ERA. However, his WHIP, H/9, BB/9, and HR/9 are all lower than they’ve ever been, while his strikeout rates are also career bests. While Westbrook has been good, he just hasn’t helped the Cardinals win.

The final piece to this trade is not a player who departed or arrived, but Jon Jay, who took over for Ludwick in right field. Since the trade, Jay has batted .266, with just one home run. Now that his abnormal .440+ BAbip has mellowed to .308 for the month, we have a truer sense of what type of player Jay is: a backup outfielder, one that the organization placed too much faith in by trading their regular starter because they though Jay could handle the job.

However, here’s the real kicker. In their 17 game slump, St. Louis has won games by three, four, nine, eight, and two runs. However, only one of their losses has been by more than three runs. That gives them a Pythagorean Win-Loss Record of 9-8 over that span, a far cry from their actual 5-12 record. All this shows us is that they’ve lost several close games.

In fact, they’ve left 7.6 runners on base each game, as opposed to a 7.1 number for the rest of the season (which includes the 20-inning game in which the Cardinals left 22 runners on). Here’s where it gets bad. Ryan Ludwick bats .389 with runners in scoring position, and .308 with two outs, and an amazing .429 with two outs and RISP. Jon Jay, by comparison, bats .356 with runners in scoring position. Jay also bats .189 with two strikes. The difference was never more visible than today, when Jay grounded out to the pitcher with the bases loaded to end the Cardinals’ scoring threat.

Can we say that Ludwick would’ve gotten a hit there? Not for sure. But with Ryan Ludwick, the Cardinals would not be leaving 7.6 men on base each game. Whether you blame the front office, the offense, Jay in particular, or Tony LaRussa, whose lack of a consistent lineup card and insistence to keep Colby Rasmus out of the lineup has infuriated Cardinals fans and writers, one thing is clear: if they don’t turn this around soon, they’ll be watching the playoffs from their couches.

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On Saturday Albert Pujols and his manager, Tony LaRussa, attended the “Restoring Honor,” rally held on the Mall in Washington D.C.  The rally was organized by popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.

The rally was exceedingly well attended with estimates placing the crowd between 300,000 and 500,000.  Beck and his organizers stated goals were to raise money for the families of fallen special forces soldiers and make a public expression of faith and patriotism.

The rally was not without its critics.

Beck, himself, is a brutally harsh, often brash critic of President Obama and the current American progressive movement.  As a result he has inspired incredible vitriol towards himself and his causes.

By stepping out, perhaps even tangentially, with something Beck supported, Pujols and LaRussa have come under mild criticism for their appearances.

They are not the first athletes to embroil themselves in a political controversy.  Many atheletes have stepped out in support or opposition to many different social, religious and political issues. 

No sport has been free of these displays.

This slide show is a look at some of the most famous, infamous and important displays of an athletes personal political and social preferences. 

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After an early August sweep of the division-leading Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals have been on a crash course to disaster. 

In that span, the Cards have lost 9 of 14 games. Playing teams like the Cubs, Pirates, and Brewers, the Cardinals have been shocking. 

When will the sleeping giant wake up? 

The entire season, I have lobbied for the Cardinals lackluster play. I have repeatedly argued that they will figure it out; that they just have to scrape off some rust and will be back on top.

I was wrong. 

When the bats show up, the pitching gets destroyed. When the pitching is great, and at times it has been outstanding, the bats are nowhere to be found. 

Games are repeatedly lost due to poor defense and amateurish base-running. So when will the giant wake?

Probably never. The giant isn’t asleep, it is dead. 

How can I, or anybody else for that matter, have any confidence in this club?

In early August, the Cards looked unbeatable against the Reds. Lights-out pitching, consistent hitting, smart base-running and error-free defense led them to a road sweep of the loud-mouthed Cincinnati Reds.

The Birds then went back home to take Game 1 of a three-game series form the Cubs. Things were looking up, then SPLAT! Like the Titanic, the indestructible force was sunk. 

The next five games were losses. 

Even when the team figures it out and looks great, they manage to do a 180 and get back to playing like Minor Leaguers. Fans, players, and coaches alike have lost confidence in this year’s club. 

After spending big on Matt Holliday this past off-season, expectations were high in St. Louis. The pitching staff has dealt with its share of injuries, but trading for Jake Westbrook was supposed to fix that. It didn’t.

Without a run into the playoffs, this season will truly be a disaster. One of the worst in the last 25 years. And after a disappointing loss to the Dodgers in last year’s divisional playoffs, this is a tough time to be a Cardinals fan. 

With Cardinals possessing this much talent, one has to wonder if Tony La Russa will want to return for another run. Just pray Pujols doesn’t have the same mindset. 

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Yes, I said support for Glenn Beck, it’s simple, if you go to an event you support it. Period.

Am I wrong?

Mr. Albert Pujols might have made the wrong choice, it is clear he had the right motive, the Hope award was given to Mr. Albert Pujols for his countless charitable work in the St. Louis community.

But why did the award had to be given in this venue?

He could of just received it in a quit ceremony before a game or at a charitable event with no political undertones.

Can we agree on that?

Now Mr. Pujols’ name and video clip showing him speaking at the Beck event are in just about every

Blog-Political action web-site in the planet, all with similar headlines.

“Albert Pujols picks up award at the Glenn Beck”… Headline from -The Hill-

“Albert Pujols wows the crowd at “Restoring Honor” rally in DC”… Headline from -Gateway Pundit

“Pujols honored at Glenn Beck rally” … Headline from-Fox Sports-

Get the idea. Yes Mr.La Russa, they promised you it wouldn’t be political, what can you tell us now dear sir?

This Sunday morning someone has to ask Tony La Russa one simple question, Sir was it political?

The answer of course should be just as simple; Yes or No.

Guess who Fox News Sunday had as their special guess this morning?

You got it! Glenn Beck.

Not political indeed.

I spend a few hours this morning reading comments and blogs on this subject, all opinions are right along political or racial lines, so we can say “mission accomplished Mr. Glenn Beck” that’s what he is good at , dividing people(with anger)along those two lines.

Many baseball fans are disappointed and others very angry at Albert, specially in the Latino community.

I don’t expect he will get any awards from them soon.

It’s a shame Tony La Russa hoodwinked Mr. Albert Pujols into participating in an event hosted by a man who profits by playing folks against each other.

I guess it will have to be a lesson learned for Mr. Albert Pujols.

As always this is just a fans opinion and from what I understand everybody has one and I thank God for that.

Enough said.

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According to a report on ESPN.com Tony La Russa announced that Albert Pujols will appear with him in a Glenn Beck event at the Lincoln Memorial where Rev. Martin Luther King made his famous civil rights speech.

Here is a quote from the great Tony La Russa:

“I made it clear when we were approached: I said, ‘If it’s political, I wouldn’t even approach Albert with it,’ ” La Russa said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, of the “Restoring Honor” rally set for the Lincoln Memorial. “I don’t want to be there if it’s political.”

I said the great Tony La Russa, but after reading that quote the words naïve or not intellectually curious came to mind, but then again he may just be a real Glenn Beck zombie.

Nothing wrong with that, everybody has the right to their opinions.

Can we all agree on that?

Reasonable folks do understand that anything Glenn Beck does is political, a way of self promotion and lets not forget a plan to laugh his way all the way to the bank.

Oh! Just in case you want to know, the yearly income information varies from 18 to 35 million, either way that’s a lot of dough folks.

Good for him, I don’t like the guy, just my choice, but you got to admire his business plan; hate always sells and he is the master of it.

The great boxer Muhammad Ali said he could hit you with a jab before you could blink your eyes

Mr. Beck tops that in spades: he can throw a jab, a hook, kick you in your privates, and walk away with another million and a big smile.

Good for him, God bless him.

Albert Pujols should ask his manager to mind his own business and not get him involved in what could turn out to be an embarrassment for MLB. Some of the posters brought to those events are very offensive; look them up I won’t give them play here.

That alone should give Pujols a hint; staying home may be the prudent thing to do.

Agree?

Sr. Pujols por favor no se deje usar come un instrumento politico por Toni LaRussa, usted sole le debe ser un buen jugador en el campo.

Nada mas!

Mr. Tony La Russa should go and enjoy his day off at the big Glenn Beck event and let Albert hang out with his buddies; that should make everybody happy.

As always, especially on this article, this is just a fan’s opinion and from what I understand everybody has one and I thank God for that.

Enough said.

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Tony La Russa refers to it as “Fuzzy Baseball.”  He uses the term to describe his team’s focus when they commit errors, run the bases poorly, and generally play bad fundamental baseball. 

This type of play is abnormal for La Russa’s teams and the St. Louis Cardinals.  But this season it’s been a frequent problem.

The 2010 Cardinals have had a general malaise about them.  They’ve seemed unfocused, uninspired, and lack a sense of urgency.  This has been noticed by fans, Cardinals media, and recently in tweets by angry author, and perhaps now former friend of La Russa, Buzz Bissenger.

It’s as if the Cardinals have been asking, “is it October yet?” since May. 

Go up early in a game, and they have trouble tacking on runs.  Get ahead in the standings early in the season, and they play .500 ball since.  Sweep the Reds to take over first, and they go into a slump against sub .500 teams to fall out of first place.

If only there were an option to fast-forward to the end of the end of a game or sim option.  Unfortunately, this isn’t happening on someone’s Playstation, but rather it’s occurring in real life.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  This doesn’t happen all the time.  They wouldn’t have the record they do if it were.  But it’s happened enough to keep the Cards looking up in the NL Central and Wild Card standings.

I’m sure it’s more subconscious rather than being in the front of their minds.  After least year’s first-round playoff flame out, I’m sure they’re dying to for redemption. 

They were one dropped line drive away from going back to St. Louis tied at one game apiece in a best of five series.  That experience has to be eating away at them a bit still. 

This year they jumped out to an early lead in the NL Central, and fans and experts prematurely crowned them division champs just a month into the season. 

Without a feeling of something to prove or a playoff-like atmosphere, the Cards play fuzzy baseball.  It helps explain why they play down to sub .500 teams, but can beat division leaders and wild-card contenders.

I’ve tried to be patient this season.  I’ve seen very good Cardinal teams go into September swoons before, including the ’09 Redbirds, the ’06 champs, and even a relative slide in ’05 (15-13).

I’ll be happy to trade the fuzzy focus of 2010 for a strong September.  The Cardinals will need to win every series left on their schedule, or they’ll be facing elimination.

It’s time for the Cards to quite looking ahead to the playoffs, and realize they’re already in them.

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The 2010 MLB offseason definitely will be known as one of the busiest in terms of managerial moves and firings. Some the of the games best might call it quits and it will certainly be the end of an era in baseball. 

We’ve already had a pair of managers who seem very much safe in the Royals’ Ned Yost and Orioles’ Buck Showalter.

Come Opening Day 2011, we will have seen a 60 percent of the managers from the 2010 Opening Day, an amazing and shocking drop from 40 percent. 

The offseason will feature many moves and hirings that will be the start of new eras in ball clubs around baseball and here are those managers on the fringe:

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