of course not. how could a future hall of fame manager know more about baseball than a couple of guys on a message board? You do realize LaRussa pioneered the idea of the 9th inning closer, which both common sense and statistics show is a horrible idea? He's not as smart as he's cracked up to be. yeah, eck was a disaster as a closer. It's not that players can't perform in that role, it's that the concept pays no attention to leverage. Honestly, would you rather have your best reliever come into a tie game in the 7th with the bases juiced and no outs, or sit on the bench and wait until you might have a lead in the 9th? Eck was not as valuable as his performance dictated he could have been. LaRussa shouldn't be praised for not knowing how to deploy his resources in the most beneficial manner.