Not a Hall of Fame night for La Russa
Photo credit: Getty Images | Marc Rzepczynski #34 of the St. Louis Cardinals is removed by manager Tony La Russa in the eighth inning during Game Five of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. (Oct. 24, 2011)
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We've seen too much, come too far, to think that the Cardinals will fold and quietly call it a season when this World Series returns to Busch Stadium Wednesday night.
But if they do?
This will be remembered on the losers' side as the Fall Classic in which the master button-pusher made too many poor choices.
Or, at the very least, that Tony La Russa could have enunciated better to bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist.
The Texas Rangers are one victory away from their first world championship in franchise history, thanks to a nail-biting 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in Game 5 Monday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Up 3-2 in games, the Rangers can thank Trade Acquisition of the Year Mike Napoli for another huge hit (even while batting eighth again). They can salute their pitchers for surviving enough turbulence to fill three commercials for heartburn relief. Mitch Moreland and Adrian Beltre each hit a solo homer.
And if they're feeling particularly gracious, they can send flowers to La Russa, the future Hall of Fame skipper who had a very bad night in what has become a very bad series.
What looked during the game like some horrendous strategic decisions took on a slapstick vibe during La Russa's postgame news conference, as he blamed some eighth-inning bullpen foul-ups on a miscommunication between him and Lilliquist.
Twice, La Russa said, he wanted closer Jason Motte to warm up, and twice that message didn't travel over the ballpark noise. That's why, the manager explained, he had lefthander Mark Rzepczynski pitch to the righty-hitting Napoli, who clobbered a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth. Because Motte wasn't ready to go.
Oh, and when Allen Craig got caught stealing second base in the seventh, with one out and Albert Pujols at the plate? (After the caught stealing, the Rangers intentionally walked Pujols.)
"A mix-up," La Russa said.
So the Cardinals might have lost a World Series because of hijinks that would barely make the cut on a "Three's Company" episode. Lance Lynn pitched to one batter, intentionally walking Ian Kinsler in the eighth, because La Russa said he didn't want Lynn pitching in the game. Lynn had warmed up when La Russa called for Motte to warm up.
Good grief. It's unbelievable. Seriously.
"This is not unusual," said La Russa, who said he was more upset by David Murphy's infield single (preceding Napoli's game-winner) that could have been an inning-ending double play but instead went off Rzepczynski's glove.
Very odd. But not all of the backfires could have been blamed on wacky misunderstandings. La Russa said he intentionally walked Nelson Cruz in the eighth, bringing up Murphy, because "I was more thinking that we had a real good chance with Rzepczynski with a pinch hitter or not, and if we got an out or not, we were going to pitch around Napoli and then go after the lefthander [Mitch Moreland].
That didn't work. Neither did the decision to try a ninth-inning hit-and-run with Craig at first base and Pujols hitting against Texas closer Neftali Feliz. On a full count, Pujols swung through a likely ball four and Napoli nailed Craig at second for a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play.
"I trusted Albert that he could put the ball in play," La Russa said. " . . . I liked sending him and having a chance to open that inning up, and it didn't work."
Very little is working right now for the Cardinals and their purported mastermind. They have nine more innings to push some right buttons, and to wipe clean La Russa's slate of a particularly brutal chess-match loss.
