IMO, is that Pujols seems to really like playing for him. If LaRussa were to be “encouraged” by the organization, due to some variance in philosophy, to leave, this might be a primary factor in Albert turning down an extension and looking elsewhere.

I live in CA’s central valley and don’t run into many Cardinals fans. When people find out that I root for the Redbirds, they often ask me “what do you think of LaRussa?” Most people out here, for some reason, don’t like him. I always tell them that sometimes he makes moves with which I disagree or stubbornly sticks with guys who suck, but that his positive effect on the team seems to outweigh the bad stuff. As Buck Martinez repeatedly (and self-servingly, as a former manager) said many times on last night’s broadcast, the manager can come up with a game plan but it’s up to the players to execute. When it comes right down to it, I’m not sure how much impact the manager really has on the outcome of a game, but I think it’s less than most people believe.

confronting the Problem of Other Minds becomes necessary when dealing with management in any arena.

Dusty Baker is just professional baseball’s version of Michael Scott, without all the “did he just say that?”-style sexual harassment … at least as far as we know.

LaRussa reminds me of a pool player, at least in the vein of the guys I played with back in college. I was a slop shooter. I had an OK understanding of the game, but I loved taking hard angle shots and weird combinations. Thing is, I was good at making them, but without necessarily the ability to replicate them game to game.

Tony reminds me of the juniors and seniors who were so good at the basics of the game, that they wouldn’t play against a lesser player straight up. They would always be working on their feel for the hard shots, and they would pass up straight shots to improve the rest of their game.

During the regular season at least, LaRussa likes to tinker with his lineups, run bizzare plays, and test out the capabilities of his players, rather than necessarily getting bogged down on individual wins or losses. He can still get stuck overusing players, both his best and his worst, but other than the odd nepotistic move, I never get the feeling that he’s doing it for a reason other than getting or keeping his players sharp.

Duncan also reminds me of those pool players; however, he reminds me of the guys that would fixate on a certain way of shooting. Again, I don’t know if they were just working on their game, but they would screw up perfectly good shots by putting too much English on it, and did it consistently. Sure, they could take some breaks you were sure couldn’t have anything made of them, and reel off remarkable shot after shot, but then they’d try too hard and gimp themselves for the rest of a game.

For both of those guys, the aggravation of the occassional apparently bone-headed decision excessively overshadows the regular brilliance which they apply to this game of ours. All other things being equal, I’ll take real students of the game over the slop shooters any day.

On the topic of Pujols desire to play for LaRussa, I see it as just another supporting reason for keeping Tony, rather than the only one. LaRussa is never going to be frustrating enough to justify dumping him (and a good portion of his staff) for the opportunity either to have to overpay for Albert to keep him or to watch him walk for the same or less money that the FO would offer him. Albert has to be a (if not the) primary consideration in the retention or hiring of on field management for the foreseeable future.

If LaRussa were to decide to leave or hang them up, Joe Maddon of the Rays is probably the first and last choice to take over. He is a hometown guy, and reportedly would take the job in a heartbeat.

Wouldnt be too bad of a thing for TLR to rejoin Jocketty in Cincinnati and take Duncan with him. Those young Reds pitchers would be much better off apart from the hands of Dusty Baker.

This little nugget comes from this article:

Weight training causes the right elbow more discomfort than baseball-related activities. Pujols cut back on his in-season routine to keep himself available; however, an abbreviated weight program contributed to Pujols’ thickening waist as the season progressed.

Anyone here notice albert getting fat? If so, it wouldn’t have so much to do with an abbreviated weight program. Maybe an abbreviated conditioning program, but weights are for adding/maintaining muscle mass and only minimally contribute to burning fat(that is, unless albert is flying through the weight room and not taking a break in between anything he does).

Yeah, I’m sure his workouts are holding him back.

If I ever call him stupid or say I don’t like him it’s usually because I’m angry. I pretty much agree with you though.

I’m sure that most people here would rather have him than at least 75% of the other MLB managers.

but they sure do make it more interesting to be a Cards fan. It’s fun to have an iconic manager and one who generates lots of discussion.

And it sure beats having Cecil Cooper as a manager….

at the name “Dr. James Andrews” popping up in the feeds….

Lidge had a very intersting season last year. His HR/FB rate was a few ticks above three, and his fly ball rate was in the low-30’s. So he was fortunate on the fly balls he did give up, along with giving up few of them in the first place. Considering both were well below his career rates, you had to figure he’d regress. Then he went and did this. That had to be one of the most violent oscillations I’ve ever seen…truly outstanding results to utterly horrendous ones. According to pitch f/x, he’s basically a 50/50 FB/SL pitcher, and via pitching weights he’s getting killed this season on the fastball to the tune of -16.8 runs, or ~-1.5 wins. That’s not so good.

The real Brad Lidge has to be in there between these two, right? I don’t know what it is, but there’s something fascinating about watching Lidge pitch… like you never know if you’ll see domination or, well, something else.

Did you see that commercial about the weirdo who pretends to like baseball for his boss and needs a “rental health day?” Why was that a good commercial to show during a baseball game? Presumably most people watching the baseball game cannot relate to that guy at all. I just thought it was weird.

Pujols followup MRI on elbow next week

As opposed to everyone else. In a one-run game.

3….2….1….

when i see even good bullpens (joe nathan) blow late leads in these here playoffs. not alot better, but enough to allow me to actually watch whats left of the playoffs.

now I’m feeling jealous.

we have implosion

other than albert could walk with the bases loaded?

Maybe it’s not but it seems like it’s taking forever.

@MatthewHLeach Rammstein plays as Ronnie Belliard comes to the plate. Seriously. #ThatsJustWeird

I hope they interview Kobi.

performance enhancers?

damn them! appearing in a Yanks Angels series!

even the horses have no loyalty.

Looks like we’ll have two different kinds of Tigers in the family if they can work out the money.

He doesn’t need that shit.

The Angels need to start winning. Now.