Loading ...John Fay is discussing the possibility that Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa might be managing the Reds next year. I think I’ll jump off a building if that happens.
Of course, we’ll have plenty to write about the first time he and Ryan Freel get DUIs on the same night in spring training.
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How about some mug shots?
It’s funny that you mention LaRussa and Freel. Ryan Freel is the epitome of hustle and I have always thought that LaRussa’s Cardinals always played baseball the “right way”. A column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today blames LaRussa for the Cardinals apparent lack of hustle.
La Russa can’t win with a team unless it’s overstocked with talent, and even then, scrappy little teams (1988 Dodgers, 1990 Reds) have a way of beating the crap out of La Russa’s teams. I don’t think the guy really knows how to manage unless he has 5-7 All-Stars on his team. Too bad he can’t win with 30+ of them…
May I please have Ken Macha please.
La Russa can’t win with a team unless it’s overstocked with talent.
Sure. He’s only won 2 World Series in 5 appearances in 29 seasons with 8 other first place finishes. Only 8 times in 29 seasons has he finished under .500. All of that was just a fluke, I guess.
I hate LaRussa as much as the next person, but I’d be willing to put aside that hatred for October baseball. I’d much rather have Davey Johnson. 94-95, ah, what memories. stupid strike.
What managers do win without the “overstock of talent”? I think last year’s Cardinals is actually a good example of a manager winning without a Yankees type lineup. Pujols, Carpenter and ? They certainly weren’t “overstocked”.
If signing TLR means Dave Duncan comes along as pitching coach, then sign him up.
Duncan certainly makes LaRussa much more attractive.
I would echo Daedelus’s comments. If you get the opportunity to sign a guy like LaRussa on decent terms and have cash left over to pay for some talent, you do it. I’d take what LaRussa’s done over his career rather than what the Reds have put together since they last went to the World Series. I’m all for October baseball in Cincinnati again!
Last year’s Cards were not significantly different than the 2005 version that won 100 games. At least talent-wise. LaRussa’s the guy who insisted on playing So Taguchi all the damn time. Their rotation was basically identical – they all just pitched worse in ’06.
I don’t have time to look it up, but wasn’t their pitching worse in 2006? May have had a lot of the same players, but guys like Marquis just had terrible years?
You’re definitely right, GregD. Same guys, worse pitching. There were more injuries in 2006 – so they had to rely on (and get REALLY lucky with) the likes of Jeff Weaver.
[...] how much money Billy DeWitt puts on the table. LaRussa and Duncan’s contracts are up and both are rumored headed to Cincinnati, to team up with their old St. Louis G.M. pal Walt Jocketty . . [...]