Tony La Russa and the Bullpen
 

Is anyone anywhere buying TLR's explanation of what happened last night? Ironically, I respect him too much to believe his explanation. There's no chance TLR would have a pitcher up that he didn't want up.

Ron Washington was asked about this and he said the same thing happened to him as well previously. I tend to believe both of them.

Peace

Ron was asked if he'd ever heard of that happening before, his exact response was a grin, a chuckle, and then "I guess so". He didn't buy it either, but then after the follow up question of "How would you deal with that" he said "You push through it."

Here's why I don't buy it. Say it happened exactly as he said, and he wanted Motte - only to learn he was not ready. The TLR we've seen in the past would have chosen that moment to have a conniption fit (or have a coach do it), or fake an injury, or SOMETHING to make sure the pitcher HE wanted was coming in. This "reason" (excuse) sounds more like CYA to me.

Yes there is. Miscommuniction happens. Fact of life.

The part of the interview I saw he claimed it happened to him too. He did not give details or say where, but he claimed it happened to him. Also something seemed up as TLR brought in a guy just to intentionally walk a batter. That is not typical. Also it is well known that you cannot see the bullpen from the dugout the visiting team is located.

I guess my point is why would someone lie about this situation? I think he did not want to throw someone under the bus either and call out a bullpen guy and say they were responsible. Just my take, but then again I am a Cardinal's fan.

Peace

My best friend is a StL fan as well and he doesn't agree with my take on this. Ironic considering my take comes from 100% faith in TLR that he does not do what he does not want to do. As to why he would lie... the media is a tool. He would certainly not be the first to lie to them, and he is a baseball genius - if he's lying (IF!!!), he has a reason. He is a master - and is always thinking 15 moves ahead. For me (or anyone) to try to guess if or why he's lying to the media would be futile and actually rather silly.

Citation needed.

Everyone not in St. Louis knows LaRussa is a weasel who thinks way too highly of himself.

You could say this about any coach or manager at the college level and above.

I am not from St. Louis, but I do not look at TLR has much different from any coach. All he has done is win more than others, but not sure why he would lie about this story. Just like I do not get the motives that are questioned by officials, I do not get why he has to lie about this. I think we want it both ways, we want people to tell the truth but we get upset when they give it to us.

Peace

Exactly how would one go about compiling a bibliography for ones opinions? (WTF are you talking about!??!)

Can you here me now............

I wonder if LaRussa might have a hard time saying "Rzepczynski." When he said "Motte" I wonder if the bullpen coach thought he said "Marc."

*shrug*

That's probably what happened. Tony said Motte, and the bullpen coach heard Marc. Then, since Marc was actually pitching at the time, he decided to simply warm up nobody.

Your comment wasn't given as opinion, but as fact. I'll give you that TLR has done his fair share of whining, but if you're going to spout some BS about faking an injury and giving this statement as fact of it happening before, feel free to give us proof of it.

In fact, it was Maddon that faked a pitcher injury, and I can't recall any time that TLR has even come close to doing the same.

No, I didn't. What I said was, "The TLR we've seen in the past would have chosen that moment to have a conniption fit (or have a coach do it), or fake an injury, or SOMETHING to make sure the pitcher HE wanted was coming in."

My point being ... if TLR is not fabricating this phone nonsense, then he WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING to stall. Reading some after posting this, I've read no less than 3 articles (all in the link above) that call Tony LaRussa the king of stalling (there's your bibliography, I guess). I was NOT saying TLR is a cheat, but rather saying that he would have found a way, whatever that entails.

wea·sel noun \ˈwē-zəl\

1 : any of various small slender active carnivorous mammals (genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae, the weasel family) that are able to prey on animals (as rabbits) larger than themselves, are mostly brown with white or yellowish underparts, and in northern forms turn white in winter — compare ermine

2: a sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere person : See also Tony LaRussa

For the record, I can not stand the Cardinals and I am a Cubs fan. With that said, I like LaRussa. Does he over-manage sometimes? Probably. But he wins a lot of games. When I think of turd managers in MLB, he isn't really at the top of the list either.

As for last night, who knows?

I wouldn't paint everyone with too broad of a brush. There are really good guys at the college level and above (And high school and above for that matter), and there are some a-holes at all levels that think really highly of themselves. This is no different from any other profession, umpiring included.

Thinking highly of yourself does not mean you are an a-hole. It is how you treat people and many coaches do not treat people with a lot of respect especially if they are umpires/officials. Some get it and do not try to get in our way, others treat others with a lot of disrespect.

Peace

Wow. La Genius has so many enemies in baseball, it even isn't funny.

Sounds like an a$$hole to me.

Who knows whether pitcher LaRusso wanted would have gotten the out. He could just as easily given up a HR ball. Blaming the loss on the phone is just rediculous. Nothing else happen during the game?

Just ask my wife... :rolleyes:

JJ