I'll start by saying that this could equally belong in the ACT forum but since I routinely move threads not directly related to theose teams here I thought I would save myself the trouble of moving another thread. With that said I used to respect Tony LaRussa but after this tirade, I have very little left for him. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1615873 HOUSTON -- St. Louis manager Tony La Russa says umpire Jerry Crawford has "made it a point to get us" and could cost the Cardinals games this season. La Russa spoke after pitching coach Dave Duncan and catcher Mike Matheny were ejected in the third inning against the Houston Astros on Saturday night -- a 2-0 loss in a crucial series. Crawford declined comment before Sunday's game. Crawford was the home-plate umpire Saturday night, and he ejected both Cardinals. "We've had problems with that umpire for how many years now?" La Russa said. "We had one incident at home where he disrespected our coaches. He's made it a point to get us. It's tough enough to win in this league. "Who knows if we would have won, but when you keep getting kicked in the guts like this guy did ... He's going to get us worse the next time." Matheny was tossed when he came out to start the third inning. He said Crawford was crowding and pushing him as he took his position to take pitches. "Umpires have their hands on you and that's not a big deal," Matheny said. "I was trying to make some catches on breaking balls and as the ball was coming in I was getting shoved forward." Matheny said he discussed the pushing with Crawford after the second inning. "He seemed to take offense to it in the beginning," Matheny said. "We tried to talk about it the next inning and he didn't seem to think there was going to be any change." Matheny said he was told by Crawford that he would have to get used to it "because that's exactly what he was going to keep doing." Matt Morris, the Cardinals' starting pitcher Saturday, also had words with Crawford about some of his pitches. In Friday night's game, home-plate umpire Larry Poncino ejected Cardinals hitting coach Mitchell Page. Other umpiring crew members were Brian O'Nora and Phil Cuzzi. O'Nora was behind the plate for Sunday's series finale. Way to make excuses for another Card downfall Tony If anyone has a legitimate complaint it could be the Marlins who have had to deal with Phillies Pitcher Randy Wolf's brother as a homeplate umpire several times this season.
Ive always disliked LaRussa. Ive always felt that he thought he was smarter than everyone else, like the time he had his pitchers bat 7 and 8 all the time.
Well, George Will wrote that damn book 15 years ago or so & he's been LaGenius ever since. Too bad he's done nothing to deserve the label. Ever. STL columnist basically calls the Co-ards a bunch of jakes. Classic: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sp...ember+exposes+Cards+big+flaw:+A+lack+of+heart Excuses, excuses: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sp...rdinals+are+left+to+pick+up+the+pieces&tetl=1 Here's some topics from the Co-ards Forum at the STL Post-Dispatch (http://forums.stltoday.com/viewforum.php?f=11&topicdays=0&start=0): Time to Rebuild?; Quitting Time; Superstars of Mediocre; Fire Sale Time; Time to Beat up on the Brewers; Cardinals Quit; Fire LaRussa, Elevate Oquendo; etc...
I was at the game Saturday night, sitting a few rows behind the Cardinal dugout. It was absolutely hilarious watching the rhubarbs, especially Mike Matheny, often considered the most mild mannered player in baseball.
