Take A Chill Pill And Call Me In The Morning

It has now been several hours since the devastating 9th inning loss to the Mets.  I have calmed down to some degree, at least enough that I can post without using George Carlin’s 7 Words You Cannot Say On TV.  In my inaugural post on this site I revealed that I am opinionated and that I do not suffer fools gladly.  What I didn’t mention but what is nevertheless true is that I have a temper that would make Chris Carpenter blush in embarrassment  Those who follow me on Twitter got a little taste of it tonight.  Those who know me well will tell you that it could have been much worse.  I did not like what I saw play out on the field.  What I didn’t like even more so was what I saw happen on the post game interview with Tony LaRussa.

I will state it flat out.  I am not a fan of Tony LaRussa.  I have my reasons and my reasons are both long and essentially irrelevant to this post.  What I saw tonight goes beyond being a fan or not being a fan.  The fact is that what Tony LaRussa did tonight on the post game interview was disgraceful.  He acted like a child who had just been chastised for not putting away his toys.  I wish I could quote it word for word, but I don’t have the interview on tape and so far no media outlet has provided a quote that I can link to.  In a nutshell, in response to a question regarding the possible tiredness of Motte,  LaRussa stiffened up his spine and in a voice haughty with indignation essentially blamed “people” for calling Motte a “closer” and thus getting his psyche all in a kerfluffle and causing him to fail in his task.  Really?  Is Motte that fragile?  If he is, then why was LaRussa adamant that using Motte in that situation was the best option?  Hmmmm.

We can all disagree about whether LaRussa’s moves were justified or not.  I happen to think that using Motte there was questionable given the extent to which he had previously been used. I am not the only one who has expressed this sentiment.  The Braves are experiencing the same problem with their late inning bullpen guys and we all know how that has worked out for them..  But LaRussa made a judgement call there and it failed.  It happens.  It could just as easily have worked and we would all go to bed happy tonight and I would not be writing this.  So my gripe is not with the decision to use Motte.  My gripe is with LaRussa’s lack of ability to answer a legitimate question with class and dignity instead of self righteous indignation and misplaced outrage.  Jason Motte was able to do it.  He was asked a similar question and gave a simple response that his arm wasn’t tired and that his pitching was not affected by his prior use in recent games.  Wow, a simple response to a question, what a concept.  Didn’t sound like his psyche was out of whack to me.

Answering questions from the media isn’t rocket science, especially from a media who doesn’t go into attack mode after losses like you see in larger markets.  LaRussa should count his lucky stars he doesn’t manage the Yankees or the Mets.  We all get angry and say things in the heat of the moment sometimes but this kind of reaction to questions he doesn’t like is not an infrequent occurrence with the Cardinal manager.  Someone with his public face and years of experience in this kind of situation should know better.  There simply is no reason to react to questions that way.  Ever.

I have a temper but I can control that temper sufficiently so as not to display it in an inappropriate manner and setting.  Tony LaRussa should too.