if it was Walt all that time and not Tony . . .

If we contuine to win and continue to be one of the 3 best teams in the NL as we are right now without Pujols & Wainwright over the next month…then this will be by far the best Tony has ever managed in his career.

The next 3 weeks will not only be a big test to the team but to Tony as well. If we do end up in the playoffs Tony is the unquestionable manager of the year.

My only gripe with Tony this year has been his stubbornness with putting Izzy and C. Duncan in games they shouldn’t be in. But that’s Tony’s loyality with these guys and even though I may not like it at times…it can be understood.

“Then I’d fly McGuire over to one on one with him.”

I don’t think Hal McRae knows how to fix Chris…Chris loves McGwire and has had success after he has worked with McGwire. I would think Tony could even get Mark to come to St. Louis for a few days to work with Chris…but we all know Mark doesn’t want any member of the media to see him and I guess it would be too big of a distraction if Big Mac came to a series at Busch because we all know the ESPNs of the World would flock there if they found out. So sending Chris to Mark is a “unknown place” would be a great idea.

DeWitt bringing Tony back. And he still drives me insane at least 3 times a week. But sometimes we don’t appreciate what we have. I recently had the thoroughly depressing experience of going to Camden Yards, where O’s fans were clearly in the minority, and watch the local nine get pummelled, as usual, by the Red Sox, and have to take the shit from the rabid Boston fans surrounding me. Now I can handle that, except that I also had to watch the O’s mail in another sloppy, lazy, brain-dead performance. The kind of performance TLR would never allow his team to get away with. So I’ll tip my cap to Tony’s relentlessness; I wish there were more managers with that approach.

My friends and I frequently discuss our favorite Cardinals are. I’ll be sitting at a bar or at someone’s house watching the game and out of nowhere someone will say, “Quick, name your favorite Cardinal.” The question gets many responses. Some say Pujols without hesitation. I also hear a lot of Yadis and Wainers.

I always have a different answer though. I always say Tony. Tony is my favorite Cardinal. I mean we’re talking about one the best managers of all time. I mean in the history of baseball, Tony LaRussa has the 3rd most wins….........3rd!! This guy is very unappreciated. I don’t think negative comments about this kind of guy are a luxury we can afford. I just revel in the fact that we have one of the best managers every managing one of the best players ever.

Every year I think that Tony is deserving of manager of the year but it often eludes him. Look at this year for example. Where were the Cardinals picked to finish? 4th….5th? Not with Tony though. He does more with minimal talent than any manager ever.

I’m only 23 so Tony is the only manager I’ve really known. I remember the ass end of the Torre era but the Birds were terrible back then.

I just think that Tony is the best Manager in baseball and he deserves an incredible amount of credit again this year. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “The season we lose Tony LaRussa is the season we stop becoming a contender for years to come. He makes this team win when everyone else has counted us out.

For me, it comes to this: Who else besides TLR would your rather have managing your baseball team that can get the results (wins) that he does? Anyone, currently managing or not managing, anywhere. Who else would be better? There are maybe a few names that MIGHT be an improvement, and a few more names because you like someone else or don’t like TLR, but who else is there that could do a better job with the Cardinals? I think this season, you’d have to honestly say that maybe one or two others could do as well, but no one could do any better.

I’ve always enjoyed having LaRussa sitting in the dugout for my squad. He’s very clever in-game wise, he does his homework, and truly understands the ins-and-outs of the game. Hey, and he’s not Dusty Baker. Although LaRussa did use the word “base-clogger,” which is problematic.

Anyway, I’m now going to pile on Baker. He’s had Adam Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion lay down sac bunts in late inning situations, even those guys are, well, good at hitting baseballs a long way, and not at bunting. Then, when Encarnacion hit a bomb, he told the media that he couldn’t let Encarnacion swing away there, but hoped he would foul two off so he could hit an 0-2 home run to win the game. WTF? He also told the media that he didn’t like Joey Votto and Dunn’s approaches at the plate, and wanted them to swing more. Votto was one of the top IF prospects in baseball going into this season, and is off to a pretty good start, but yeah he should just hack away like Corey Patterson, who was so good at hitting baseballs. And Dunn’s issue isn’t his approach, it’s the holes in his swing. He crushes “his” pitches, and knows it, so he waits for them. Usually it leads to him not getting out, but Dusty’s right…He’d be better off swinging away and making more outs and hitting fewer bombs and getting on base less, like Corey Patterson.

So anyway, yeah, LaRussa isn’t him. Cool.

deserves a TON of credit. last year, he almost had that team back into the thick of things (until the media extravaganza around Ankiel ruined it). And this year, he has been giving everyone playing time, and being ultra creative with everything. You gotta like this guy, even though you can easily say “Why?” a million times over the season with his novel approach.

Recall the doom and despair that accompanied the team with its roster out of the spring.? That this club is faring so well despite injuries and playing (almost) unknowns in key positions is remarkable. Perhaps shout out “ARF” for TLR.