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Cards fans: TLR questions

I'm brand new here, a longtime Card fan, someone who lives a long way from St. Louis and is seeing them regularly on TV (cable package) for the first time.....so if these questions are old, please forgive me.

What drives me crazy is how a great manager like Tony LaRussa (perhaps the best in the game) can (1) stick with Jason Isringhausen for loss-after-loss when it is apparent to all  fans the guy is long past his prime. He blows five games in two weeks, and we lost first place, perhaps for the rest of the season;  (2) how Chris Duncan plays so often when he can't hit (just flails at low pitches and never seems to learn) or field; (3) why - as he did last night - stick with a guy (Wellemeyer) who obviously didn't have it from the first inning on. The guy had given up 12 hits and 6 runs before TLR ever got somebody up in the bullpen!   How can such a smart baseball man like TLR do these things?  Are the first two because of devotion to an old hero and to his friend/sidekick Dave Duncan?   Doesn't TLR  put the team's welfare ahead of his personal relationships.....or is that impossible for any big-league manager?   What are they saying in St. Louis about these particular things?  Thank you.

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1. Stick with the guy who has 292 career saves and give him a chance to work out of his slump. When Isringhausen finally declared he wasn’t right, Tony made the switch. Izzy is a competitive guy, but he’s also a smart guy. When he realized he wasn’t the best person for the closer’s role he stepped aside. He trusts players like Isringhausen to let him know when they feel that they aren’t right and can’t get it done, which is why those players love to play for Tony.

2. Duncan isn’t going to get any better sitting on the bench, and I don’t think Memphis is the answer either. And he isn’t a bad fielder. Besides one game at Coors Field, he’s been as good as any other average left fielder/first baseman this year.

3. He stuck with Wellemeyer because of his track record this season. He’s been good, remember? Also, there’s no reason to wear out the bullpen a few days before a series against the first place Cubs. Don’t you think it would hurt his confidence more to pull him after one inning?

4. Reyes is on the disabled list.

by adiueordie on Jul 2, 2008 1:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Okay......but

Thanks, cd, for some very good answers. A few quick responses:

1 – After half of his blown saves, it was pretty obvious Izzy was not the old Izzy – in fact, he hasn’t been since 2005. If managers let pitchers tell them when to take them out, the team is in trouble. Ask Grady Little. Many veterans never want to admit they don’t have it anymore. Tony waited too long on this one, but hopefully Jason can still help us in middle relief, which is a crucial area these days.

2 – I mentioned Duncan’s fielding because last night his slow reactions enabled a double to be stretched to a triple and a single into a double. The answer for him – and the Cards – is a change of scenery.

3 – Yes, Wellemeyer has been good this season, but so what? He didn’t have it from the first batter last night. Looper didn’t have it, either, the other day and TLR got him out, I believe, in the third inning. I would have pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fourth after he had given up the tying runs and had allowed something like eight hits in four innings. This was a winnable game, and we threw it away going too long with Todd.

Don’t misread the above comments – I love LaRussa and Dave Duncan. I cannot imagine – nor do I want to – the Cardinals without them…...but that doesn’t mean they don’t make bad mistakes at times.

CD – If you see this (or anyone else), will the Cardinals’ owner ever pay big bucks and get some proven stars in here from free agency? Ioften wondered if it discouraged TLR and DD, not only not going after good free agents but losing many starters whohad just helped us. the previous who left for greener ($) pastures.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 2, 2008 2:35 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

How can one complain about Isringhausen's 2007 season?

It was as good as any of his peak years.

They say that it's never too late, but you don't get any younger...

by Valatan on Jul 3, 2008 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

credit adiueordie - he actually answered the questions.

I just added the Reyes comment (i know he’s on the DL) because its the 3rd topic/argument of choice on the boards here after your 1 and 2. Just figured you forgot to ask it.

by cd on Jul 2, 2008 3:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Isringhasuen

You wrote about how Isringhausen hasn’t had it since 2005? So soon to forget that Izzy had 32 saves last year with a 2.48 ERA. He was one of the best closers in baseball last year.

by stl3bagger on Jul 2, 2008 6:56 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

i was going to say the same thing

he was totally awesome last year.

by adiueordie on Jul 2, 2008 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

For the answer to all these questions and more

stay tuned to any VEB game thread or main post

by baw on Jul 2, 2008 7:36 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

LOL

Your Duncan comments seem pretty funny at this point.

by SoonerfanTU on Jul 3, 2008 8:45 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I stand corrected

Izzy was fine last year. My mistake.

As for Duncan – puhleeze…..one HR to tie a game does not atone for all other poor efforts. I’d love to see him hit consistently, though, because we need his bat.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 3, 2008 9:06 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

"one HR to tie a game"

he hit another one like three days ago. have you been watching?

by baw on Jul 3, 2008 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, he's been super

all year, which is why even LaRussa had to finally send him down to Memphis earlier. He only got called back because Albert was out. Glad you are watching the games.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 3, 2008 5:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I wasn’t saying he’s been super all year. He has hit more than “one HR to tie a game,” though.

by baw on Jul 4, 2008 1:58 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

What other

game-tying home runs has he hit this season? That’s what I meant.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 4, 2008 7:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

if you click “reply” on the comment you’re talking about, it’s easier to follow.

“game-tying home runs” is a stupid statistic.

by baw on Jul 5, 2008 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

when he said he has hit more than 1 HR to tie a game.

I believe he was referring to either the fact that he has more than 1 HR; that that he has had a .973 over his last 7 games and has been hitting well over the last two weeks. He is taking more walks, hitting for extra bases, and generally showing good signs of comming out of his prolonged slump.

by Evilfrog on Jul 5, 2008 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

another clarification

The whole thing is a semantics issue and trivial, baw. I’ll re-word my meaning for the last time: Duncan has only had one important hit against the Mets, the HR that tied the score late in the game…..as opposed to failing in the clutch almost every single time prior to that. We have enough OFs who are better clutch hitters than Duncan to warrant him getting so many ABs. That’s all I was trying to say.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 6, 2008 4:32 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

better "clutch hitters"

may or may not exist, period. really i’m just replying to this in the hopes that you’ll learn how to USE REPLY!

by baw on Jul 6, 2008 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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