Tony La Russa retiring

[brettac1]

Any time the greatest manager in baseball history leaves the Brewers' division, I am happy.

[gregmag]

The great thing about this is that he didn't die, he just retired -- so no canon of civility requires us to say nice things about him.

 

No manager has ever done more to encourage a breathtaking range of substance abuse, from alcohol to steroids. No manager in my memory has done more to undermine the integrity of the game by routinely lodging false accusations against his opponents. No one in baseball since San Diego's "John Birch Three" in the 80s has done more to promote paranoid, hateful ideology (John Rocker doesn't count; he was just a knuckle-dragging buffoon). No carbon-based life form has ever done more to promote the notion that "unwritten rules" entitle him to dictate the behavior of the people around him.

 

So he won. Great for him; Vince Lombardi lives. For anyone who cares about reconciling a love for baseball with any sort of humanistic ethic, Tony LaRussa is the lowest form of life to debase the national pastime in this era. The only thing that could make me feel better as a baseball fan than this news would be an announcement of full revenue sharing.

 

I'm sure LaRussa has managed to alienate everyone around him by now, because how could you not hate the man if you actually have to deal with him on a day-to-day basis? I hope he lives a long and healthy life in loneliness and misery.

[burnzy24]

This has got to have some bearing on Pujol's upcoming decision. I know Pujols was very fond of La Russa so Tony not coming back probably increases the odds that he goes someplace else.

[hawing]

No manager has ever done more to encourage a breathtaking range of substance abuse, from alcohol to steroids. No manager in my memory has done more to undermine the integrity of the game by routinely lodging false accusations against his opponents. No one in baseball since San Diego's "John Birch Three" in the 80s has done more to promote paranoid, hateful ideology (John Rocker doesn't count; he was just a knuckle-dragging buffoon). No carbon-based life form has ever done more to promote the notion that "unwritten rules" entitle him to dictate the behavior of the people around him.

http://randomgifs.com/images/clap.gif

[owbc]

I think a big part of the Cards' success was LaRussa and Duncan, every year they seemed to turn nobodies into key contributors.

 

The stage is now set for the Cubs to become the Brewers' biggest competition, at least in a few years.

[PrinceEatMeat]

So, how about Ken Macha to the Cardinals? Lol. Seems like a great fit to me.

[berniebrewer4life]

Any time the greatest manager in baseball history leaves the Brewers' division, I am happy.

Connie Mack and Sparky Anderson are better IMO. But he's definitely one of the best, all time. No doubt.

[topper09er]

Interesting possible result from this, who will manage the all-star game? It could very well be the NL runner up RRR.

 

Stolen from here: http://www.mlbtraderumors...ny-la-russa-retires.html

 

Wikipedia has a list of some unusual circumstances, and how they were handled. The right to manage the All-Star team goes to the manager, not the team, so (for example) when Dusty Baker managed the Giants to the World Series, and then went to the Cubs, Baker still managed the NL. Similarly, when Dick Williams resigned from the A's in 73, and became Angels manager for '74, he managed the AL.

 

In 1979, Bob Lemon managed the AL team after being fired from the Yankees in the offseason, but in 1982, when Lemon was again fired (midseason), Billy Martin, manager of the AL runner-up A's, managed the team.

 

After 1964, both managers left their teams and went to the opposite league. Johnny Keane left the Cardinals to manage the Yankees, Yogi Berra left the Yankees to manage the Mets. Rather than manage either the league they left or the one they joined, MLB chose the managers of the second-place teams, Al Lopez of the White Sox and Gene Mauch of the Phillies (who actually were tied with the Reds, but the Reds' manager in 1964, Fred Hutchinson, had died in the off-season, so they selected Mauch without any further discussion.)

 

Also, in the first All-Star game, before it was expected to be an annual thing, they chose not the previous WS winners, but the two men regarded as the most venerable managers in the game: Connie Mack and John McGraw, who actually came out of retirement to manage that game.

 

All this is by way of saying that it's up to MLB, and then Tony LaRussa. If they're willing, and he's interested, LaRussa may be permitted to come out of retirement on a one-game only basis, and manage the All-Star Team. If they do not permit it, or LaRussa is disinclined to do so, Ron Roenicke will likely manage the team in LaRussa's stead.

[chuckiehacks]

I'd bet LaRussa manages it. All-Star rosters are a double-switching dream.

[prophet]

This is good news. We could use more news just like this

 

Hot Stove starts tonight

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19899475&topic_id=7417714

 

It should be well covered. And besides, the Monday Night Football match up is another weak one.

actually, the winner of the MNF game is in first place if I remember right. The Chiefs are turning it on.

[GAME05]

Have to say that my hate of the Cardinals decreases slightly with him gone.

not for me.

[pingman]

I assume pitching coach Dave Duncan is retiring too? that would be a HUGE loss for the bad guys

[Thurston Fluff]

I remember something about Duncan having said this was his last season a while ago. Don't remember when or if it was speculation from an announcer but I think it was sort of known he was retiring. Make sense since he missed a lot of time due to his wife's ill health.

What ever the reason I wish them both well. Nothing about competitive sports could make me wish either of them anything but a full and happy retirement. Unless that meant the Brewers lose one single game for it to happen.

[Funketown]

No manager has ever done more to encourage a breathtaking range of substance abuse, from alcohol to steroids. No manager in my memory has done more to undermine the integrity of the game by routinely lodging false accusations against his opponents. No one in baseball since San Diego's "John Birch Three" in the 80s has done more to promote paranoid, hateful ideology (John Rocker doesn't count; he was just a knuckle-dragging buffoon). No carbon-based life form has ever done more to promote the notion that "unwritten rules" entitle him to dictate the behavior of the people around him.

This is awesome. I commend thee for thine great prose.

 

He was a tool, a hypocrite, a bit of a scumbag, and an occasional buffoon. But, he was behind the bench of winning teams and he was probably far more competent than most managers. So,...Something...

[jmeks23]

How did he get out of his contract with the devil to do this?

[DatHoser]

How did he get out of his contract with the devil to do this?

He did a double switch with David Freese's soul.

 

Good riddance, TLR.. gregmag1 gets an A+ for that post.

[craigharmann]

The great thing about this is that he didn't die, he just retired -- so no canon of civility requires us to say nice things about him.

 

No manager has ever done more to encourage a breathtaking range of substance abuse, from alcohol to steroids. No manager in my memory has done more to undermine the integrity of the game by routinely lodging false accusations against his opponents. No one in baseball since San Diego's "John Birch Three" in the 80s has done more to promote paranoid, hateful ideology (John Rocker doesn't count; he was just a knuckle-dragging buffoon). No carbon-based life form has ever done more to promote the notion that "unwritten rules" entitle him to dictate the behavior of the people around him.

 

So he won. Great for him; Vince Lombardi lives. For anyone who cares about reconciling a love for baseball with any sort of humanistic ethic, Tony LaRussa is the lowest form of life to debase the national pastime in this era. The only thing that could make me feel better as a baseball fan than this news would be an announcement of full revenue sharing.

 

I'm sure LaRussa has managed to alienate everyone around him by now, because how could you not hate the man if you actually have to deal with him on a day-to-day basis? I hope he lives a long and healthy life in loneliness and misery.

 

 

Holy cow!!! This is amazing and true!!! Well said!!

[Oldcity]

This kind of sucks, because I wanted to beat him more than anything.

 

Gregmag, that is incredible.

[hawing]

How did he get out of his contract with the devil to do this?

Perhaps the contract indicated this move at this time. Who knows what else they've got up their sleeves? The double-switch is also plausible.