Good Riddance Mr. Rasmus

This past week a post from one of my former students on Facebook intrigued me. He is an avid baseball fan and we have discussions frequently about major activities and happenings around Major League baseball and especially the St. Louis Cardinals. He had found an article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch about former Cardinal Colby Rasmus. I was never really a fan of Colby and understood Manager Tony LaRussa’s opinion of him as stories about his behind the scenes behavior those feelings were only reinforced. The article, which I have linked above, is a tremendous read. I don’t know if I have seen a player so poorly represent themselves and sound more unintelligent.

It takes a little more to be a Cardinal. This franchise is not the average ball club. St. Louis is a place where baseball isn’t just enjoyed it is revered. If you are playing for the Cardinals there are expectations. Expectations that are not necessarily unattainable but take some work to achieve. Colby Rasmus either didn’t have the desire or ability to reach those goals. I am not usually one to bash a player or former players (aside from a snide comment about a former first baseman here and there) but this guy sounds so ridiculous that I can’t help but point out how lucky we are that the Redbirds made the deal they did last year to get rid of him.

As you read the article you will hear the ramblings of an immature and not so bright player. Some of what is quoted is unintelligible and most is self-serving. He portrays himself as someone who wasn’t understood by his teammates or his management. Those views lead him to justify how poorly he played in St. Louis. As is to be expected he is extremely complimentary of his current Toronto Blue Jays team and management. His Cardinal teammates and management don’t get off so lucky. Cardinal fans are extremely understanding and supportive of our players, often times to a fault. The St. Louis media is more forgiving than almost any place as well, so this makes Colby’s stance all that much more baffling.

Most of his ire is directed at LaRussa. LaRussa just never understood him. My take is LaRussa did everything he could to make a 5-tool player all he could be. TLR had expectations of Rasmus, as he did all of his players. He told him that he wouldn’t allow him to be complacent or get comfortable. He always wanted more. As an athlete that is all you can ask of your coaches. You want people to push you to be your best, especially if there is millions of dollars to be had if you achieve those goals.

There was plenty of blame to go around while Colby was in St. Louis. He even referenced the fans and how they were angry with him and how that affected his play. This is simply a case of a prima donna that didn’t get his way. LaRussa had many issues with Colby and his level of play. Whether you believe that LaRussa was a control freak or not, he was the boss. Colby tended to listen to his father more than his manager. This is a little league mentality that I am afraid will only start to appear more and more in the near future as a generation of “helicopter kids” reach maturity and reach the Bigs. In this interview Colby pointed the finger at everyone except where it needed to be pointed, right back at him.

I am thankful that Tony was able to get this clubhouse cancer sent packing. This would have been a huge issue for new Manager Mike Matheny to have to deal with. As I have stated before this deal was crucial in securing the World Series Championship. I am growing tired of some players being so immature. They tend to forget that they get paid a ridiculous amount of money to play a game! It is very hard for a fan to have any sympathy for a whiny baby complaining about how poorly he was treated while making millions of dollars. I also have to wonder just how intelligent Colby is by the way he spoke to someone who was interviewing him for a publication. I hope his agent, or his daddy grabbed him and told him that people will think he is a lot smarter if he just keeps his mouth shut. His grammar is atrocious and his ability to string a sentence together is awful at best. He may have a million dollar body and skill set, but he won’t make it very far in this game with that 10-cent head.

Oh, and Mr. Rasmus if things were so awful and you don’t want any reminders of your terrible times here, message me and we can make arrangements for you to give me your World Series ring you will be receiving. I would hate for it to bring you down.

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