Tony LaRussa is as full of shit as anyone.

complicated vegetarian

We here at the ‘Fro don’t enjoy muck-raking, yet all the unabashed Tony LaRussa love since his Hall of Fame induction is a wee bit over the top. As I have said on this blog before, Mr. LaRussa’s “invention” of the most over-rated statistic in sports: the one inning “save,” is mind-boggling in its supposed importance, and is ultimately a money-eating affair equivalent to a crotch grab. LaRussa also won’t be inducted as an Oakland Athletic as he has nothing but nasty things to say about the ball club. While we are here to celebrate the athletes/managers who have played for the team that wears the green and gold, we certainly aren’t against critiquing or even exposing the things that prove even a so-called “genius,” “renaissance man” and World Series winner can be an idiot.

Manager Tony La Russa blew up at Ruben Sierra yesterday, blasting him as an “idiot” for comments he made in yesterday’s Chronicle.

“Every time he opens his mouth he makes a fool of himself,” La Russa said. “You try to protect guys, shade the truth a bit, but there’s a term players use, V.I., when a player starts believing fantasy. He’s a village idiot.”

I agree with LaRussa on this account. Ruben Sierra was a self-serving idiot. I saw the 2nd game he played in Oakland after being traded from the Rangers and he had the nerve to still be using use his Ranger blue glove. 

The biggest news of the night came when Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa expressed his views of the Tea Party and Arizona’s immigration policy to KSDK.

“You’re supposed to be able to have opinions and disagree, and a lot of things they (Tea Party) do I think are correct,” said La Russa. “I’m actually a supporter of what Arizona’s doing, you know, people don’t fix your problem, and the government, the national government doesn’t fix your problem, and you’ve got a problem, they’ve got to take care of it themselves.”

This is a generalized, oppressive, ignorant, and racist statement. There really is no way to pussy-foot around it, and if LaRussa wasn’t in the privileged position of ordering grown men to do things in a children’s game, I’m sure he would think differently.

Radnich: First of all, congratulations on having your uniform retired in St. Louis. … I know you’re not losing any sleep, but the A’s haven’t retired your number, correct?

La Russa: Well the A’s have a little different opinion, with the current regime, about what a manager means. They really don’t think a manager means much, so I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Radnich: Since you went that far, why does (A’s general manager Billy) Beane have that feeling? I mean, he played for you briefly – why do you think he feels that way?

La Russa: Well, you have a right to your opinion, but I take that personally because he watched me manage. I certainly don’t blame him, because those A’s clubs – I mean, I do blame him but I don’t blame him, because they were push-button clubs and anybody could have managed them. But you take other clubs, and the manager can contribute. You’re not a player, and neither is the coaching staff, but we all have a job to do. But he’s made it really clear that under their scheme of developing metrics and analytics, anybody could do the job down there, and I couldn’t disagree more with that.

Radnich: The one thing that bothered me about the movie was I thought Art Howe was just treated awfully. Have you talked to him?

La Russa: Yeah, in fact, I talked to him right when it came out, and he said, “You’re a lawyer, can I do something?” I said, “Well, you could sue, but that’s one of the toughest proofs.” You could do it to get press and just to make your point. … But whoever says he should get over it or don’t pay attention if it was them they wouldn’t feel nearly as forgiving when they’re being embarrassed like that. The point is, Art did a really good job there, and he was a part of that success as much as a manager could be, and it really portrays him as kind of a buffoon and useless. A lot of us – not just Art, but a lot of us that know better were really pissed off about that.

This site unabashedly supports the Oakland ball club on this position. It’s quite easy to dismiss philosophies when in St. Louis he had one of the highest payrolls and probably the best scouting in the game. Perhaps Mike Matheny leading the Cardinals to the World Series exposed LaRussa as the “button pusher” that he abhorred to be.

I certainly am not going to judge the man for this one. People make mistakes. Even hot-shot lawyers.

“I tell my players, ‘You’ll never see me without one of my friends,’ and by that I mean a book.”

The greatest thing to ever come out of his mouth.

LaRussa and the Hall of Fame

vegetarian, renaissance man, and originator of one of the most over-rated positions in sports: the one inning “closer.”

1986 And The Rest Is History…….. by Scott Guilmette
You can’t really fault Jackie Moore, the 1986 Opening Day Manager of the Oakland Athletics; the pitching on that team was suspect at best. The Athletics had a decent hitting team, with eventual Rookie of the Year Jose Canseco leading the way. Dave “ King Kong “ Kingman was playing his last season and the natives were getting restless, so a change needed to be made……Bring in one Anthony “ Tony “ LaRussa to guide this team of rookies, scrap heap rejects and players who’s better days have long been in the rear-view mirror. La Russa, who had spent 7 years managing the ChiSox was a great pickup by the Athletics after the ChiSox axed him three weeks earlier and he proved it in his first game as manager. The Athletics were in Boston to play the RedSox and he chose seldom used long reliever Dave Stewart to start that night against Roger Clemens and of course Smoke beat that ass!!!!! He started a trend that night that Clemens wished he was never part of…….NO LUCK AGAINST THE ATHLETICS OR STEWART……
LaRussa has a Degree in Law and I always thought of him as a smooth snake in the grass lawyer as to how he managed the game….he always seemed in control, no matter what the situation was, and he always seemed classy in doing it. He was just what the Athletics needed at that time in their history…..after it was all said and done in Oakland, LaRussa was the winningest manager in Oakland Athletic’s club history with 798, one World Series Championship ( 4-0 Sweep against the sorry asses from across the Bay ) and two Manager of the Year Awards. He is 3rd on the All Time wins- list with 2,728, behind only John McGraw and All Time Leader Connie Mack.  Not bad Athletics fans, some of us have had the good fortune to see one of the greatest managers of all time!!!!!
LaRussa will forever be linked to the shady past of the game of baseball known as the Steroid Era……It was during his watch that the Athletics clubhouse exploded with brawn, and it seemed that he did nothing about it…..you might as well put ALL of MLB’s managers, front office personnel and the Commissioner in that boat too because NO ONE did a damn thing to stop it from happening. It’s not the first time in this games’ illustrious history that there been a shadow cast on it and it won’t be the last either. It’s not LaRussa’s fault……but the haters will hate… oh well, get in line because he’s in the Hall of Fame now. He made it easy for me, a life long Athletics fan to follow him and the St. Louis Cardinals after he left the Athletics when Walter Haas, Jr. passed away.
So CONGRATS Tony, I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch you manage this game I truly Love…….

Tommie Reynolds interview

Tommie Reynolds was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, and played for them among other teams like the Mets, Angels and Brewers before he retired after the 1972 season. Mr. Reynolds was also a bench coach for the Oakland A’s during their 1989 World Series run, and later followed Tony LaRussa to St. Louis where he did the same for the Cardinals during the summer of 1996.

I recently received the following interview in the mail. I’d like to thank Mr. Reynolds for his time and baseball wisdom. In a day and age when geeks who have never picked up a bat in their lives argue endlessly over mind-boggling and trivial stats, it’s refreshing to pick the mind of an old veteran who actually knows what the fuck they are talking about.  Enjoy:

You once shared the outfield with 2 greats – Reggie Jackson and Rick Monday. What was Reggie like back then-had he acquired his hot dog persona yet?

No- he wasn’t. He was a good outfielder with a strong arm. He played the game right. If we hadn’t lost him for 2 weeks I think we would have won the pennant.

You played in Kansas City, Oakland, New York, Anaheim and Milwaukee. What was the most enjoyable city to play in? Did you get along with your managers?

Oakland was my most enjoyable one, we were in a pennant race.  I got along with all my managers except Dale Crandell who took over for Dave Bristol whom I enjoyed playing for.

Was it tough playing for an awful Mets team in 1967? (editors note: they lost 101 games)

The thing that I disliked is that I didn’t play more. I was used mostly as a late inning replacement for Tommie Davis. I think we competed well with the league, we were just a little short on the pitching. Tom Seaver was our best… he was .500 for an also-ran team.

I heard a radio interview recently with pitcher Dave Stewart who said that Jose Canseco didn’t want to be there once the play-offs started. Is this true? Did you have a relationship with either?

I don’t know if that’s true or not. I didn’t have much contact with Jose. I do know that in 1989 he competed his tail off in the series.

You were also a bench coach with the St. Lois Cardinals. What is your relationship with Tony LaRussa, and do you think he should be a HOFer?

I had a great relationship with Tony all the way back to 1964. He should definitely be in the Hall. He’s a great motivator, strategist and teacher.

How did it feel to win the World Series in 1989, and was it your biggest baseball thrill?

It was a great feeling to be part of a historical game; to come back after the earthquake and sweep the Giants was awesome. I was more excited for the players. My greatest thrill was making it to the Major Leagues when others doubted me.