Tony LaRussa

[mul21]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

It looked to me that Nunez was heading for the base. That was a shot toward the line, and based on where they were showing Nunez before that pitch, I don't think there's any way that he gets to that ball if he isn't trying to get the runner.

[wolf stansson]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

It looked to me that Nunez was heading for the base. That was a shot toward the line, and based on where they were showing Nunez before that pitch, I don't think there's any way that he gets to that ball if he isn't trying to get the runner.

No the previous pitch was fouled off but the runner was already almost to third and Nunez was making no move towards the bag whereas Molina was out of his crouch aimed towards second where Grudz was covering. Before the play they showed Tony point to Nunez to play off the base and not cover.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

It looked to me that Nunez was heading for the base. That was a shot toward the line, and based on where they were showing Nunez before that pitch, I don't think there's any way that he gets to that ball if he isn't trying to get the runner.

No the previous pitch was fouled off but the runner was already almost to third and Nunez was making no move towards the bag whereas Molina was out of his crouch aimed towards second where Grudz was covering. Before the play they showed Tony point to Nunez to play off the base and not cover.

 

I understand that Nunez wasn't moving towards the base on the previous pitch, which leads me to believe he had to have been moving toward third on the next pitch to field that hot shot the way he did.

[dalgreen]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

His teams win because (at least while in St. Louis) because they have good players. Had that idiot Hernandez not swung at balls 1, 2 and 3 against a struggling Izzy, Nunez's play wouldn't have come into question. LaRussa makes some great calls and makes some lousy ones. I don't know if you get to see him on a regular basis or not, but he makes many head-scratching decisions. For one, starting Morris over Suppan in game 3. Right now, Suppan is their best pitcher and he may not throw one pitch in the NLDS.

 

On another note, why were people surprised that Sanders got a 3-0 green light? Don't you normally give your 3-5 hitters the 3-0 green light? I could see the surprise if you gave your lead-off or 8th place hitter the green light, but not the 5th hitter.

[indifferent]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

His teams win because (at least while in St. Louis) because they have good players. Had that idiot Hernandez not swung at balls 1, 2 and 3 against a struggling Izzy, Nunez's play wouldn't have come into question. LaRussa makes some great calls and makes some lousy ones. I don't know if you get to see him on a regular basis or not, but he makes many head-scratching decisions. For one, starting Morris over Suppan in game 3. Right now, Suppan is their best pitcher and he may not throw one pitch in the NLDS.

 

On another note, why were people surprised that Sanders got a 3-0 green light? Don't you normally give your 3-5 hitters the 3-0 green light? I could see the surprise if you gave your lead-off or 8th place hitter the green light, but not the 5th hitter.

 

In a different situation, maybe (i.e. 2 outs with RISP), but there was one out, a walk scores a run, and Reggie doesn't have the most stellar plate discipline.

I would never give a 3-0 green light, but I'm not a manager.

[mul21]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

His teams win because (at least while in St. Louis) because they have good players. Had that idiot Hernandez not swung at balls 1, 2 and 3 against a struggling Izzy, Nunez's play wouldn't have come into question. LaRussa makes some great calls and makes some lousy ones. I don't know if you get to see him on a regular basis or not, but he makes many head-scratching decisions. For one, starting Morris over Suppan in game 3. Right now, Suppan is their best pitcher and he may not throw one pitch in the NLDS.

 

On another note, why were people surprised that Sanders got a 3-0 green light? Don't you normally give your 3-5 hitters the 3-0 green light? I could see the surprise if you gave your lead-off or 8th place hitter the green light, but not the 5th hitter.

 

I live in St. Louis and get to see him on a regular basis, and whether it's because the St. Louis media are a bunch butt kissing morons or because he reaally does a very good job, there seems to be little controversy over his decisions. As for the Morris over Suppan decision, that is a head scratcher based on both of their performances over the last month and most of the sports media down here is questioning him on that. He has had good players, but he has also managed to overcome pretty major injury problems unlike someone we're all fond of.

[K-Town]

I live in St. Louis and get to see him on a regular basis, and whether it's because the St. Louis media are a bunch butt kissing morons or because he reaally does a very good job, there seems to be little controversy over his decisions. As for the Morris over Suppan decision, that is a head scratcher based on both of their performances over the last month and most of the sports media down here is questioning him on that. He has had good players, but he has also managed to overcome pretty major injury problems unlike someone we're all fond of.

 

There's an organization called "The Faction" whose only goal is to get Jocketty and Larussa out of town. They actually spend money out of their own pockets to fly "Fire Larussa" banners over Busch Stadium, and other silly campaign projects.

 

So yeah, there's plenty of opposition among the "Cardinal faithful".

 

As for the media not questioning him......... well, when you've got a team winning 100 games two years running, and competing in the playoffs almost every single year, it's hard to remember the "bad times". Believe me, if the team goes south, the media will be all over him (see Mike Martz / Rams).

[TheDude]

As much as I despise LaRussa as a person for his constant whining and his "overacting" incident when asked the question about McGwire last weekend, he again showed yesterday why his teams win. I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but would Baker have even had a notion to go for the runner at 2nd and keep his 3B in position to field that ground ball that ended up being a double play in the 2nd or 3rd inning? Not a move that gets exposure in everyday coverage, but a little nuance that probably saved the Cardinals a run or two and changed around the game.

 

Actually, that is an easy call to make. Most managers would have made it I think.

 

But don't be hasty giving LaRussa a lot credit for yesterday's game. Early in the game, they got lucky, repeatedly. They scored three runs in an inning where the hardest hit ball was a double-play.

 

When you have a bunch of seeing-eye singles and flares, and the opposing pitcher falls off the mound during a pitch, it is easy to look good.