Anthony La Russa: Resident Genius

Tony La Russa's mistakes in Game 5 of the World Series have been well documented, and I'm not here to defend them. Allen Craig caught stealing (twice!) with Albert Pujols at the plate. Leaving left-hander Marc Rzepczynski (zep-CHIN-ski) in to face the hottest (and right-handed) hitter in the on planet, Mike Napoli, with the bases loaded. Accused of not communicating clearly to bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist, causing the wrong reliever to start warming up. It wasn't a pretty game, ending in a painful 4-2 loss for the Cardinals. 

Mr. La Russa

Tony wakes up the next morning to find news outlets nationwide ripping the Cardinals for their terrible play, broadcasting to all who will listen that the Cardinals season is, yet again, over. (People enjoy saying that, don't they? But, I digress...) Because it's the World Series, Major League Baseball has an interview scheduled for the off day. Tony, not normally one for interviews, confidently marches into the menagerie of reporters. Questions are immediately hurled at him, accusations thrown at players and coaches alike. Tony quickly sidesteps most of the questions. Amongst the madness of the interviews, Tony throws the reporters exactly the juicy steak of a story they've been looking for. He tells the reporters that it was, in fact, all due to a faulty bullpen phone that he "probably" made the call on. 

Suddenly the baseball writers don't seem to care that the Cardinals went 1-12 with runners in scoring position. They don't remember that it was Albert that called for that hit-and-run with Craig, that call didn't come from the dugout. Even after given time to think about it, they don't even seem to understand that it wasn't actually Tony that made the call, it was Dave Duncan (who gets no disrespect from this blog). Nope, it's all on Anthony La Russa. It's all his fault. Tony is the reason that the Cardinals are losing this World Series, only to whine about it afterwards. He's too old, too out of touch and, apparently, too soft-spoken.

Tony, lawyer by degree, sits back in his chair, smiling. He's been around the game for nearly half-a-century, he's headed to the Hall-of-Fame. He doesn't give a money's uncle what the press thinks about him. The pressure, the scrutiny, stress brought down by all these writers is off his players and all heaped onto him. And that is exactly how he planned it. Tony La Russa: St. Louis' Resident Genius.