Pujols?

[Alfonso Soriano]

Does anyone know why La Russa forgot about his own player on the bench?

He tried to wear out our players and save his only player.

What a scumbag.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Apparently the genius could see into the future & knew that Pujols would've merely hit a sharp single right at LF so only one run would score, next batter is out, go to extra innings w/ All Star players out of position, thus giving rise to a defensive gaffe that ultimately would've caused the NL to lose anyway. TLR merely chose to end the game on schedule... Edited July 11, 2007 by CyHawk_Cub

[Roast]

Does anyone know why La Russa forgot about his own player on the bench?

He tried to wear out our players and save his only player.

What a scumbag.

 

Yeah, he tried to "wear out" our players by giving them 3 at bats.

 

I agree though, he should have played Pujols.

[Coach C]

Could Pujols had tweaked something while he was in the HR derby last night?

 

Just throwing something out there.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Either TLR didn't want to win or he's a horrible manager. There's no middle ground.

[Alfonso Soriano]

Someone needs to give him a CUI.

Coaching Under The Influence

[cubbieblue12]

Either TLR didn't want to win or he's a horrible manager. There's no middle ground.

 

 

I was so surprised he didn't pinch hit the guy in the last inning. I hoped he would of, I wanted to see the NL end their losing streak, and I didnt care who did it. pujols woulda had a better shot at it than rowand, even though rowands awesome in the clutch.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

You can't empty your bench at the All-Star Game*, you just can't.

 

*Exceptions if you have someone get hurt or if the alternative is letting a pitcher hit in an important situation.

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

You can't empty your bench at the All-Star Game*, you just can't.

 

*Exceptions if you have someone get hurt or if the alternative is letting a pitcher hit in an important situation.

Or if its the bottom of the 9th, the game, bragging rights, and homefield advantage in the world series are on the line, and you have arguably the best hitter in baseball as the last guy on your bench.

[Sarcastic]

I realize this is a small thing, but it matters to me: I would have been seriously depressed if Pujols hit the game winning hit in the All-Star game. ESPN, FOX, and every sports network on TV or radio in existence would have been talking about it for weeks. Every time a baseball game was on, the announcers would have made a reference to somebody needing to ask Pujols for advice on how to hit in the clutch, whether he had anything to do with the game or not. I couldn't stand sports commentators going down on Pujols any more than they already do, and this would have increased their love of him by several orders of magnitude.

 

So no, I am not sad that he didn't come in. Homefield advantage isn't worth that much to me.

[SouthSideRyan]

Albert is less than thrilled

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Well if this issue causes problems in the Cardinals clubhouse, that could be a good thing.

[circlecitycub]

I think he should have used Pujols to hit for Hudson. Then in the event of a tie he could have moved Snachez to second and let Albie play 3rd.

 

Or, if he used him to hit for Rowand then move Sorianop to CF and stick Pujols in LF.

 

However, if Pujols came to bat in the ninth I liked the chances of the game ending right there.

[Andy]

For all the talk about TLR being so desperate to win one for the NL, leaving Pujols on the bench in favor of Hudson and Rowand was plain stupid. If you end up in extras you can always move Fonz to CF and put Pujols in LF (he did after all say he'd play him 'anywhere' if need be).

 

Hell, I wanted him to PH Pujols for Lee, too.

[XZero771679666304]

For all the talk about TLR being so desperate to win one for the NL, leaving Pujols on the bench in favor of Hudson and Rowand was plain stupid. If you end up in extras you can always move Fonz to CF and put Pujols in LF (he did after all say he'd play him 'anywhere' if need be).

 

Hell, I wanted him to PH Pujols for Lee, too.

 

Better yet, move Fonz to right and Rowand to center.

 

 

Either way, TLR is either prodigiously stupid or just didn't want to use Albert for his own team's benefit. I'll go with the latter. I mean saving Albert that one AB might make the difference between 3rd or 4th place.

 

I didn't want Albert to PH for Lee, but I was literally stunned that he let Hudson go up there. It's inexcusable.

[AlwaysaCub]

For all the talk about TLR being so desperate to win one for the NL, leaving Pujols on the bench in favor of Hudson and Rowand was plain stupid. If you end up in extras you can always move Fonz to CF and put Pujols in LF (he did after all say he'd play him 'anywhere' if need be).

 

Hell, I wanted him to PH Pujols for Lee, too.

 

I agree and agree. No way Krod's curveballs in the dirt get Pujols out there. Aaron Rowand pales in comparison. Did you see that first pitch? Pujols takes that out for a grand slam, a fastball right down the middle. Game.

 

Instead, Aaron Rowand flies to right, which there is death valley.

[Mizzou]

Albert is less than thrilled

 

"If he wants to get upset, he can get upset," La Russa said. "Whatever he wants to do, he can do. It's America. That wasn't the most important thing tonight."

[moorecg]

The one time in my life I’m ready, willing and able to root for Pujols to come up with a big hit and Tony lets Orlando Hudson hit? Soriano hits a HR to get us w/in one…Lee works a walk to put the winning run on base and the situation is set up PERFECT for Tony to let Pujols be the hero and he sends O. Hudson to bat? Seriously? That was so freakin stupid its like he was trying to throw the game. The only good thing is that now Pujols is pissed at Tony….maybe it will breed some disharmony ion the 2nd half.

[Soul]

The one time in my life I’m ready, willing and able to root for Pujols to come up with a big hit and Tony lets Orlando Hudson hit? Soriano hits a HR to get us w/in one…Lee works a walk to put the winning run on base and the situation is set up PERFECT for Tony to let Pujols be the hero and he sends O. Hudson to bat? Seriously? That was so freakin stupid its like he was trying to throw the game. The only good thing is that now Pujols is pissed at Tony….maybe it will breed some disharmony ion the 2nd half.

 

I was pissed too. Maybe it will cause further bad feelings between them, that would be good.

[dew1679666265]

For all the talk about TLR being so desperate to win one for the NL, leaving Pujols on the bench in favor of Hudson and Rowand was plain stupid. If you end up in extras you can always move Fonz to CF and put Pujols in LF (he did after all say he'd play him 'anywhere' if need be).

 

Hell, I wanted him to PH Pujols for Lee, too.

 

Better yet, move Fonz to right and Rowand to center.

 

 

Either way, TLR is either prodigiously stupid or just didn't want to use Albert for his own team's benefit. I'll go with the latter. I mean saving Albert that one AB might make the difference between 3rd or 4th place.

 

I didn't want Albert to PH for Lee, but I was literally stunned that he let Hudson go up there. It's inexcusable.

 

If Rowand was pinch hit for, he couldn't remain in the game to play center.

 

The best option would have been to put Sori in center and Pujols in left if he pinch hit for Rowand. If he pinch hit for Hudson, Sori goes to second and Pujols in left. If LaRussa is that worried about playing other teams' players out of position, why not put Pujols in center? Before the game LaRussa said he could play anywhere.

[The Voice of Reason]

The return of the cranky, selfish Albert?

 

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Csports%5Cstories.nsf&docid=51E17104A4DAD6A1862573150014629B

 

Pujols had said Monday that he would do "whatever (La Russa) wants" as a player

chosen not by the fans or the players but by La Russa himself. But when Pujols

didn't play Tuesday night, he said, "Go ask the manager. He's the one you

should ask. I have no idea. He didn't even talk to me at all.

 

"This is the All-Star Game. He's the manager. He can do anything he wants.

 

"But if I wasn't expecting myself to play, I wouldn't have come up here.

 

La Russa was told about Pujols' generally genial mood but still couldn't fathom

Pujols' surprise at not playing. And La Russa, biting his words, clearly was

not laughing.

 

"Albert was the guy who was going to do whatever we needed," said La Russa. "If

Albert doesn't understand that, I'm surprised and disappointed. It isn't that

tough a thing. I explained his role to him before the game.

 

"Let me ask you this. If we go to extra innings, who's going to be our player

to move around and play? Can Dmitri move around and play? Or is Albert going to

do that? Who's the most versatile guy not playing? It's Albert. It isn't even

that tough. He'll figure it out sooner or later.

[Keener98]

Larussa could care less who won last night, I mean home field advantage isnt going to mean squat to him. Pujols not seeing the field after Soriano made it a 1 run game is ridiculous, Larussa is a MORAN!

[Soul]

The return of the cranky, selfish Albert?

 

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Csports%5Cstories.nsf&docid=51E17104A4DAD6A1862573150014629B

 

Pujols had said Monday that he would do "whatever (La Russa) wants" as a player

chosen not by the fans or the players but by La Russa himself. But when Pujols

didn't play Tuesday night, he said, "Go ask the manager. He's the one you

should ask. I have no idea. He didn't even talk to me at all.

 

"This is the All-Star Game. He's the manager. He can do anything he wants.

 

"But if I wasn't expecting myself to play, I wouldn't have come up here.

 

La Russa was told about Pujols' generally genial mood but still couldn't fathom

Pujols' surprise at not playing. And La Russa, biting his words, clearly was

not laughing.

 

"Albert was the guy who was going to do whatever we needed," said La Russa. "If

Albert doesn't understand that, I'm surprised and disappointed. It isn't that

tough a thing. I explained his role to him before the game.

 

"Let me ask you this. If we go to extra innings, who's going to be our player

to move around and play? Can Dmitri move around and play? Or is Albert going to

do that? Who's the most versatile guy not playing? It's Albert. It isn't even

that tough. He'll figure it out sooner or later.

 

CARD FIGHT!!!

 

I like it.

[bring stone back]

For all the talk about TLR being so desperate to win one for the NL, leaving Pujols on the bench in favor of Hudson and Rowand was plain stupid. If you end up in extras you can always move Fonz to CF and put Pujols in LF (he did after all say he'd play him 'anywhere' if need be).

 

Hell, I wanted him to PH Pujols for Lee, too.

 

I agree and agree. No way Krod's curveballs in the dirt get Pujols out there. Aaron Rowand pales in comparison. Did you see that first pitch? Pujols takes that out for a grand slam, a fastball right down the middle. Game.

 

Instead, Aaron Rowand flies to right, which there is death valley.

 

K-Rod walked three guys in a row and completely lost the strike zone....swinging at the first pitch would have not been wise.

 

I can't say I blame him, but it looked like Rowand got a bit defensive after strike 1 and didn't want to go down 0-2 and strike out so he swung at a bad second pitch.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

K-Rod walked three guys in a row and completely lost the strike zone....swinging at the first pitch would have not been wise.

 

unless you're a hitter as good as Albert Pujols and can easily deposit that pitch into the left field seats because you're waiting for it and it comes