The Daily Hat Trick: Tony LaRussa

Showing posts with label Tony LaRussa. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Silent But Deadly

Welcome to the show, Brandon Hicks! 1

Earlier this evening, Oakland Athletics shortstop Brandon Hicks (.171, 1 HR, 3 RBI) hit the first home run of his major league career against the first place American League West rival Texas Rangers. It was a walk-off, solo home run to center field. It has the A's, winners of 10 of their last 12 games, tied for the second American League Wild Card spot at the time the game ended.

BACK IN THE GAME, BABY!

The Hat Trick has briefly commented on the A's in our pre-season, one-quarter season point, and halfway point evaluations of the American League's teams. I predicted a mediocre season, and the A's were less than mediocre at the time of the one quarter-point evaluation (actually in last place, slightly behind the woeful Seattle Mariners). What has happened since that point is amazing.

By the All-Star break, the Athletics had played themselves back into contention. I hear the A's getting very little attention in sports media. However, should the Athletics, behind stellar pitching and right fielder Josh Reddick's (.271, 26 HR, 46 RBI) base-clearing bat, continue to play .500-plus baseball it will be impossible to ignore them in September, and possibly October.

RETURNING TO THEIR ROOTS

The Athletics were once a proud franchise, dominating the American League in the late 1980s and early 1990s with three pennants and a 1989 World Series championship under future Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa. The A's last playoff appearance was in 2006, when they were swept from the American League Championship Series by the Detroit Tigers. The American League Divisional Series sweep of the Minnesota Twins in that 2006 season was the Athletics' first playoff series win in 16 years. During that 16 year drought, the A's only had a heart-breaking string of four consecutive Game 5 losses in the best-of-five first round of the playoffs between 2000 and 2003.

There has not been much to celebrate on the other side of the Bay in a very long time. Manager Bob Melvin, in his first full season as the Athletics' manager, could be just two months away from bringing the magic back to O.co Colosseum. If so, he may enjoy the biggest "I told you so," in the faces of myself and every other sports writer who wrote them off in March.

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls!

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info.

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

Image from www.espn.com

Monday, October 31, 2011

One for the Ages

The 2011 World Series was a treat to baseball fans, which have been in need of more treats and fewer tricks. The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals took their series to seven games, the first time in nine years the World Series was extended to seven games, with more dramatic twists and turns than any viewer could have asked for. For a sport that has suffered from declining playoff television rating and declining interest in its regular season over the past decade, this series is just what the doctor ordered.

MAGIC CARDINALS RIDE

The St. Louis Cardinals path to their 11th World Series Championship looks like it came directly out of a movie script. The Cardinals trailed the Atlanta Braves by more than nine games in September for the final spot in the National League playoffs. They took the lead on the final night of the season on the same night that the Braves were one out away from beating the Philadelphia Phillies and forcing a one game playoff for the Wild Card berth. The Braves would lose in extra innings, sending the Redbirds to the playoffs.

What did the Cardinals get for their valiant effort? The booby prize: a trip to Philadelphia to face the team with baseball’s best record in a best of five series. What was the prize for matching blows with the Phillies to force a fifth game? A return trip to Philadelphia to face Roy Halladay, the best pitcher in the National League…. And how much success would the Cardinals have? They would only score one run. And what good would one run do on the road against baseball’s only hundred-plus win team? Send the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series on the strength of Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter’s complete game shutout.

After disposing the favored Milwaukee Brewers in six games in the NLCS, what is the Cards’ next prize? They get to face the two time American League Champion Texas Rangers, who were either in or near the top 5 in Major League Baseball in almost every major team statistical category for pitching and hitting. After being down to their final strike two times in Game 6, trailing the Rangers three games to two, the Cardinals came back to tie the score not once, but twice before David Freese’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning. The Cards capitalized on their second chance with a 6-2 series clinching victory in Game 7.

Freese-ing a moment in time 1

LONE RANGERS

What of the Texas Rangers? The crushing defeat in Game 6 will be a bitter pill for Rangers manager Ron Washington and his team to swallow and digest over the offseason. However, the Rangers are one of the most talented teams in MLB, with a young core that is expected to remain intact for several years. The Rangers will have as good a chance as any team of winning the American League pennant and becoming three time league champions. They may be one ace pitcher, such as free agent C.C. Sabathia, from being a clear front runner to win the A.L. in 2012. They will have ample opportunities to win the World Series in the future.

Rangers catcher and would-be World Series MVP Mike Napoli's expression after Game 6 was an omen of things to come for the Rangers the following day. 2

SCORE ONE FOR BASEBALL

Baseball has been in need of real, competitive, positive publicity. A dramatic, hyper-competitive seven game signature event, the World Series, provided just that. In the wake of the Cardinals victory on Friday, their manager, Tony LaRussa, announced his retirement from baseball after 33 years in the dugout. The Game 7 win was a fitting send off and a perfect way to mark “The End” of a spectacular World Series script.

Going out on top 3

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls!

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info.

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

1) Image from Getty via huffingtonpost.com
2) Image from courrierpress.com
3) image from usatoday.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

1-800-DISCONNECTED

The St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the World Series. Nothing odd about that…. It has been a competitive, back-and-forth series. What is odd is the series of events that led to Texas taking the lead for good.

If you did not see the game, the Rangers had two runners on with one out in a 2-2 tie game in the bottom of the 8th inning. Conventional wisdom would dictate that Cardinals closer Jason Motte would be likely to enter the game in such a critical situation. Instead, the Cardinals sent reliever Marc Rzepczynski to the mound.

THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN SPONSORED BY….

Tony LaRussa has been known throughout his career to micromanage late game situations, especially those involving the bullpen. The red flag has yet to go up in the minds of Cardinals fans. Rzepczynski gave up a go-ahead 2 RBI double to Rangers catcher (and series MVP to date) Mike Napoli. LaRussa signals to the bullpen again. Certainly Motte is on his way out to stop the bleeding and give the Cards their best chance in the 9th. Out from the bullpen trots Lance Lynn…LANCE LYNN????

The seldom used reliever, who only pitched 34.2 innings in the regular season, was not scheduled to pitch last night. What is LaRussa thinking? This must be one of those “gut instincts” by the manager, right?

WRONG! Lynn intentionally walked the first batter he faced and was removed from the game for Motte, who finished the inning. LaRussa’s explanation for the head-scratching chain of events in the Cardinals’ bullpen? The instructions to bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist could not be heard properly over the bullpen phone due to the crowd noise. REALLY?

LaRussa: Lance Lynn?
Lynn: HEY...!
LaRussa: What the f%$& are you doing here?!? 1

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

I’ve been watching baseball for over a quarter century. I thought I had seen every imaginable unusual happenstance in the game. I have seen nothing like this.

I’ve seen the George Brett pine tar incident. I’ve seen the ball rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs. I’ve seen Chuck Knoblauch fake a throw to second base, without having the ball, and make Lonnie Smith hesitate and likely prevent a winning run in a World Series game. I’ve seen Joe Carter’s walk-off. I’ve seen the Steve Bartman fiasco. I’ve seen a team blow a 3-0 series lead in a league championship series. I’ve seen a rainy game halted and resumed the next day (in the rain, again) just to play less than half of a close out World Series game. The wrong reliever was sent out...twice...because the bullpen coach couldn't hear the manager? Baby, I’ve seen everything!

I don't think LaRussa believes his explanation himself. 2

WHAT IF THAT HAPPENED WHEN….

We’ve put a man on the moon. It’s a good thing LaRussa and Lilliquist were not in mission control that day. Neil Armstrong may have been given instructions to head on over to Mars after the moon landing.

God forbid we are ever on the brink of a nuclear act of war. But if we were, how much trouble would we be in with the LaRussa-Lilliquist connection to the red telephone in the President’s office? We may have instructions to bomb Iran and end up wiping out Iraq!

Capital punishment? I guess it depends on your political views. If you are against the death penalty, the Cardinals crack management team could be your heroes! If the governor calls at the last minute, with that caliber of communication, it could be the wrongful execution that ends all executions, because the guy in the chair is gonna get cooked!

LaRussa is not allowed near the red telephone. 3

ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS

In the 19th century and early 20th century, there were no telephones in the bullpen. Managers communicated the old fashioned way: face-to-face. We have some other alternatives like cell phones, text messaging, computers, laptops, iPads, bullhorns, carrier pigeons, American Sign Language and the old message in the bottle. If the instructions seemed unclear or questionable, any of these alternatives could have cleared this up nicely.

But the Cardinals did not get the correct message down to the pen. Now they head back to St. Louis needing back to back wins against a team that hasn’t suffered back to back losses since August. If you are the sponsor of the Cardinals Call to the Bullpen, will you renew the deal next season?

If you can understand this imperfect message, you'd think that Lilliquist could decipher "Motte" from "Lynn". 4