Tag Archives: Tony La Russa

The Good, Better And Best Of A Winning Home Opener

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Umbrellas and raindrops were key parts of yesterday’s home opener but, thankfully, the rain wasn’t enough to delay the game. And the St. Louis Cardinals offense apparently likes being home, as the Cards scored five runs on nine hits to triumph over the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 in damp and drizzly home opening game.

Seven Cardinals had hits in the game — Peter Bourjos had two! — and Yadier Molina showed once again how much he loves driving in runs against the Reds with a three-run first inning double. While Trevor Rosenthal had an uncharacteristic ninth inning, it wasn’t as wild as past home opener adventures in recent years and the Cards won their first opening game at Busch since 2010. Maybe Trevor just wanted to keep us interested …

And while the photo below shows a little bit of that gray and rainy atmosphere, the bunting was out and the Opening Day logo was on the scoreboard and the field — therefore, it was a beautiful day at Busch Stadium.

Here’s a look at the good, better and best of the festivities and the game, and special thanks to Laura for the photos she provided.

home opener

Photo: Laura

The Good

TLR

Photo: Laura

Leading off the parade of Hall of Famers was the newest of them all, former manager Tony La Russa wearing his red blazer for the first time. He looked good, and did a nice job greeting his fellow Hall of Famers, Mike Matheny, the coaches and the players as the first one in the home plate receiving line. He and Ozzie Smith even had a polite moment as they shook each others’ hands. And, as Dan McLaughlin and Ricky Horton pointed out on television and which I also noticed when watching, TLR even steered Pat Neshek in the right direction when he was going to walk behind everyone.

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Tony La Russa: “The Relentless Grinder”

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Tony La Russa never wasted any words when speaking with the media during his career as a manager.   Whileimage (7) those words could be short ended and sparse at times, he is direct and carried a dry sense of humor about him.

When these media sessions go well, the player/coach treats them like a conversation and not an interrogation.   La Russa simply sat there and talked to us before he signed for the fans.  Here are are his thoughts on various subjects.

On Sunday, La Russa gave an intimate 25 minute conversation about his years in St. Louis, instant replay, and getting into the Hall of Fame.  It was one of those conversations that you didn’t want to see end and wouldn’t soon forget.

On getting into the Hall Of Fame-

“I had convinced myself it wasn’t going to happen.  This has been a surreal experience.  All the pieces they give you and the other guys.  It’s heavy stuff.  You get the call and they don’t tell you anything else.  They tell you to come down.   They tell you that your life will be different.  There’s some far out stuff that is impossible to comprehend.”

La Russa, even after making it into the Hall, isn’t comfortable being a part of it.

“I still think the Hall Of Fame is a place for players.  I always thought the managers in there were guys like Earl Weaver and Sparky Anderson, who lit the room up with baseball.   When we won the Championship in 2006, there was a feeling something was there, having won one in each league(like Sparky).  It may be hard to avoid it.   I am not comfortable with it and the biggest reason is I never thought good fortune was hall of fame criteria.  I have been lucky enough to be in places like Chicago, (Oakland), and St. Louis.  The only thing I want is to not disrespect Chicago or Oakland.  They will make their decision soon.”

One year after Stan Musial passed away, the legendary Cardinal still comes to Tony’s mind.

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Catching Up With The Cardinals: Friday Edition

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Friday at last, of a seemingly very long week — guess the polar vortex and snow will do that. And, with just over a month until Cardinals pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter on Feb. 12, baseball still seems far away.

saint_louis_cardinals_logoNot that there hasn’t been baseball in the news this week, with the results of the Hall of Fame voting revealed on Wednesday (and all the moralizing and lecturing and pomposity from too many of those who voted spewing out both before and after). Ahead of that, though, Graham Womack at Baseball Past and Present on Monday unveiled his fourth edition of the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. It’s a long and great read, well worth the time for the information on each player (although three listed now are Hall of Famers — congratulations to Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas). There are several Cardinals on the list, including Ted Simmons at No. 26, Joe Torre at No. 34 (as a player, since he’ll be inducted as a manager in July) and Ken Boyer at No. 40 (and I was privileged to write about him for the project).

Speaking of Simmons, if you haven’t read The Sin of Being Second to the Best Ever by Derrick Goold yet, read it now.

Also, check out Legendary Cardinals Instructor George Kissell Deserves a Spot in the Hall of Fame from Stan McNeal at Fox Sports Midwest. Definitely would be a deserving honor for a man who did have, still has and will continue to have such an impact on the Cardinals and all those who have played for the team.

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Throwback Thursday: Two Walk-Off Wins From 2005

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Continuing our stroll back in recent Cardinals history from last Thursday, the 2005 St. Louis Cardinals followed up their 105-win-National-League-pennant-winning season by winning 100 games, the NL Central and making it to Game Six of the NLCS against the Houston Astros.

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That’s a walk-off winner on Aug. 19, 2005 – thanks to Jim Edmonds.

There were new faces: Mark Grudzielanek at second, David Eckstein at shortstop, Abraham Nunez at third, Mark Mulder on the mound. (Speaking of the latter, did you see he’s making a comeback attempt?)

It was the year the Yankees came to town, and Mariano Rivera and his bullpen pals had some fun. It also was the final year of Busch Stadium II.

And it was the year of a couple of very cool August walk-off wins.

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Cardinals Congratulate Tony La Russa on Hall of Fame Selection

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St. Louis Cardinals team chairman William DeWitt Jr. and Cardinals senior vice president and general manager John Mozeliak this morning congratulated Tony La Russa on being selected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Hall of Fame Expansion Era Committee.

la_russa[1]“We are proud of Tony and honored that he will be joining an elite and distinguished group of Cardinals in the Baseball Hall of Fame,” said DeWitt. “This is truly a great day for Cardinals Nation.”

“Tony’s managerial tenure with the Cardinals will always stand out as one of the greatest eras in Cardinals history,” said DeWitt. “Tony’s passion for winning and innovative leadership not only helped the Cardinals achieve so much, his approach transformed how the game is managed and played today.”

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Monday Morning Tidbits: McCarver, Mo and More

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UPDATE: Tony La Russa is unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as are Joe Torre and Bobby Cox. More from Derrick Goold and Rick Hummel is here.

It’s Monday morning, it’s cold and snowy throughout much of the country (which was pretty obvious if you watched any NFL games yesterday) but there’s plenty of baseball talk going on — so it can’t be all bad.

McCarverMaybe you saw the article on Friday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hinting at Tim McCarver joining the Cardinals broadcast team. Now Jenifer Langosch has more at the Cardinals site: indeed Fox Sports Midwest is nearing a deal that would add McCarver to the television team in a limited role.

Hmmm. Having never been quiet about my feelings for the Fox Midwest announcers (and rewatching some games lately from this season just makes my feelings all the more clear), I can’t say this would make things any worse than they have been. Who knows — maybe Joe Buck could even come back and do a couple of games with McCarver. Didn’t everyone besides Cards fans think they were always rooting for the team during national broadcasts anyway? But Dan McLaughlin and Tim McCarver together … yikes.

In happier thoughts, there likely isn’t a Cardinals fan out there who doesn’t appreciate what John Mozeliak continually does for the team. (Well, okay, there probably is at least one …) But if you don’t appreciate how he’s built the roster that’s appeared in two of the last three World Series and even retooled the roster for 2014 without giving up any of the Cardinals prospects plus received a compensatory draft pick now that Carlos Beltran has signed with the Yankees, read this about the Seattle Mariners and their general manager Jack Zduriencik. You will appreciate Mo — and be really glad you’re a Cardinals fan.

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Which Three Years Were Better: 2004-2006 or 2011-2013?

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The past 10 seasons are an extraordinarily rich time in St. Louis Cardinals history, as we all know. Seven trips to the postseason, six times in the National League Championship Series, five National League Central titles,  four World Series appearances resulting in two World Championships — obviously a glorious time to be a Cardinals fan.

Yet also two very distinct ways to that success, with the Tony La Russa/Walt Jocketty era reaching its pinnacle in 2004 with its reliance more on veteran acquisitions to make an impact and now the John Mozeliak/Mike Matheny way that’s blossoming with talent developed from within. Which has me wondering: of these past seasons, which three-year stretch was better: 2004-2006 or 2011-2013?

Here’s a refresher on these two championship stretches.

2004-2006

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Record: 105-57 (best in MLB), finished first in NL Central.

Postseason: Won NLDS 3 games to 1 over Dodgers; won NLCS 4 games to 3 over Astros; lost World Series in sweep by Red Sox.

Top hitters: The MV3 — Albert Pujols .331/.415/.657 with 46 home runs and 123 RBI, WAR of 8.4; Scott Rolen .314/.409/.598 with 34 homers and 124 RBI, WAR of 9.1; Jim Edmonds .301/.418/.643 with 42 homers and 111, WAR of 7.1. Also, Tony Womack hit .307 and had 26 stolen bases. Edgar Renteria hit .287 with 72 RBI and 17 stolen bases.

Team batting average: .278, first in NL.

Team OPS: .804, also first in the NL.

Top starting pitchers: Chris Carpenter, 15-5, 3.46 ERA; Jason Marquis, 15-7, 3.71 ERA; Jeff Suppan, 16-9, 4.16 ERA.

Saves leader: Jason Isringhausen, 47.

Team ERA: 3.75, second in NL (Braves first at 3.74)

Postseason moment to remember: Jim Edmonds 12th inning walk-off home run in Game Six of the NLCS.

Award recognition: The MV3 finished third (Pujols), fourth (Rolen) and fifth (Edmonds) in NL MVP voting. Tony La Russa was second in the NL Manager of the Year race.

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Bullpen Woes, Dugout Decisions Cost Cards in Washington

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Well then. (Where do you even begin with a game like this?)

On a day when the Cards had a great chance to get back on track after the terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad series against the Brewers over the weekend, it went from bad to worse and then some, come the sixth inning.

That newly dreaded sixth inning.

Jaime Garcia had done his job, allowing two runs on eight hits through six. Not mind boggling, but solid. Certainly good enough for his 7th win on the year. Plus, he left with a 4-run lead. With only three innings to play, that should be enough. Right?

Games like this are just plain hard to watch, as the Cards lose to the Nationals 8-6.

Or not.

Now, in all honesty, the drama started in the fifth inning on back-to-back errors by everyone’s favorite short stop, Ryan Theriot. Up until that point, he was doing his fan club proud, with two hits and a run scored. But it was all for naught, once the error machine took over.

To his credit, he did start the inning-ending double play, and no runs were scored, but the fifth-inning struggles were only a sign of what was yet to come.

Garcia would likely have made it out of the sixth unscathed  if Theriot would have fielded not one, but two ground balls that went down as infield singles. I’m really not sure what happened with Theriot, but neither play was made, and Garcia ended up charged with a run.

And instead of rallying to score some insurance runs, the bats went silent … as did Cardinal Nation when the bullpen call was made for the seventh.

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Hats Off, TLR. Brilliant Strategery.

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Score one for Tony La Russa.

As so aptly put by 2xAught7 in his tweet, it was brilliant strategery by TLR to have Miguel Batista start the game last night, with bad weather imminent in downtown St. Louis. And reading this quote from Dusty Baker backs that up all the more: “The information we received was probably not the same information they received.”

Well, Dusty, there’s this thing called the Internet, and you can look up this thing called the radar, and it shows you what weather is approaching …

In contrast, look at this — praise for TLR’s move from Brandon Phillips?

“I’m going to give the Cardinals two thumbs up for what they did,” the Reds’ Brandon Phillips said. “They changed their pitcher on us at the last minute, that was a very smart thing to do.

“The next thing you know they brought in their starter who was going to start the game, and he was fresh.”

The Reds didn’t do that, of course. Edinson Volquez warmed up before the game began at 7:15 p.m. and was thus unavailable after the two-plus hour rain/storm delay. Even though he never set foot on the field, he’s listed in the box score as the Reds starter. Just like The Poet is listed as the Cardinals starter.

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Tony La Russa – MVP?

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Dear Tony,
Pretend time machines are real. And pretend that you and I happen to jump into one and head back to 2006, particularly the week after the regular season ended. As irritated as you get with reporters, I’m sure you remember it … they were particularly brutal that year. The Cardinals (after losing nine of the last 12 games) won the division, but were called the worst team to ever make the playoffs. You then successfully led them to the NL pennant and, oh yeah, a World Series title.

Worst team to win or not, you won. They won. And Cardinal Nation won. Because that’s what St. Louis Cardinals do — win. Or at the very least play for nothing less.

Back outside the imaginary time machine, let’s look at today. Particularly the part of today that I watched a video of you walking out of a post-game press conference because the reporters got under your skin, simply by asking (yes, multiple times) why the first week of this season is eerily similar to most of last season. And even more particularly to the part where you said, essentially, that last year wasn’t so bad. We should be happy with finishing second in the division.

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