Smile Funk, LaRussa Retires

[Surfah]

Pretty good way to go out.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I'm glad we will no longer have to listen to everyone claiming he is a genius, but the next month or so is going to be brutal with all the LaRussa tributes. This is great news for the Cardinals, unless they bring in a LaRussa like manager that still thinks the hit and run and double switch is a good idea.

In honor of LaRussa, I present to you one of the funniest box scores you will ever see and a great example of his over-managing. This boxscore is courtesy of HBCoug. Goes through nearly his entire bullpen before the 9th inning, double switches, it has it all.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2...200CIN2001.htm

[MartyFunkhouser]

Also, in further tribute. I give you fjm.com's archives on Tony La Russa.

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/...y%20la%20russa

[HBCoug]

I'm glad we will no longer have to listen to everyone claiming he is a genius, but the next month or so is going to be brutal with all the LaRussa tributes. This is great news for the Cardinals, unless they bring in a LaRussa like manager that still thinks the hit and run and double switch is a good idea.

In honor of LaRussa, I present to you one of the funniest box scores you will ever see and a great example of his over-managing. This boxscore is courtesy of HBCoug. Goes through nearly his entire bullpen before the 9th inning, double switches, it has it all.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2...200CIN2001.htm

It's difficult to capture the essence of that game in a box score. You can clearly see that he double-switched out Pujols for one of his favorite all-time combos of Dave Veres and Craig Paquette before the game hit extra innings (only to have Albert's spot bat in extra innings), and can gather he was left with nobody but a severely washed up Andy Benes to pitch the extra frames (thus three Cincy HRs off Benes in the 10th and 11th). Luckily, games like these were far more common years ago.

Right now I have a mixed bag of emotions regarding the Genius. This team did just win an improbable World Series -- its second in five years. While I will always maintain he is one of the most overrated managers ever and a complete ass to deal with personally, he has scoreboard. The interesting thing is I think the times he has achieved post season success are when he gets out of the way and quits trying to outsmart everybody. In the playoffs, you never see Shawon Dunston or Eli Marerro in center field or pitchers batting eighth. You rarely see him line up his worst reliever against the opposition's best hitter because of some microstat from 2002. Yet this is how he has consistently managed regular seasons since I can remember. I will bow out before BoylenOver refuses to talk to me ever again, and I'm just thrilled the Cards pulled out a season for the ages. Goodbye, Tony. Thanks for the memories.

[RC Vikings]

So is Dave Duncan done also? I think LaRussa retired just so he didn't have to answer any more questions about the bullpen mix up.

[HBCoug]

So is Dave Duncan done also? I think LaRussa retired just so he didn't have to answer any more questions about the bullpen mix up.

I would be shocked if they didn't leave together.

[wuapinmon]

Will he still get to manage the All-Star game next year?

[BoylenOver]

I'm thankful for the success the Cards have had over LaRussa's tenure in St Louis, but I think he's picked the perfect time to leave. Trading away a potential All-Star CF for rental scraps is frustrating, and pitchers hitting 8th is comical over-managing. But I'm grateful mpfunk can be neutral at worst towards the Redbirds, and I can resume speaking to HBCoug.

[Top Ute]

Looks like Theo is off to a rousing start in Chicago.

[Tone Loc]

World series titles

LaRussa = 3, Billy Beane = 0

[MartyFunkhouser]

Rosters paid in the top 5 of the league

Beane = 0
La Russa = essentially every year he has managed

Careers of Hall of Famers risked for a meaningless game in April because of something that Sparky Anderson once said

Beane = 0
La Russa = 1

If La Russa gets credit for the past 2 World Series victories with the Cardinals, he deserves the blame for the A's epic failures and the Cardinals the year they lost and were the best team. The A's teams from 88-90 were absolutely stacked and if La Russa was truly had the impact on the game that people claim he has, no way they lose.

[Tone Loc]

Rosters paid in the top 5 of the league

Beane = 0
La Russa = essentially every year he has managed

Careers of Hall of Famers risked for a meaningless game in April because of something that Sparky Anderson once said

Beane = 0
La Russa = 1

If La Russa gets credit for the past 2 World Series victories with the Cardinals, he deserves the blame for the A's epic failures and the Cardinals the year they lost and were the best team. The A's teams from 88-90 were absolutely stacked and if La Russa was truly had the impact on the game that people claim he has, no way they lose.

I went back as far as my patience would allow and all the way back to 2003, they were 5th in payroll once. On average they were between 10-12.

Try again.

I really dont give a crap about LaRussa, I just don't understand why you hate so many people. You never relent. From Lebron, to Duke and Coach K, to LaRussa, and on and on and on. You hold a lot of grudges. Sad and weird really.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I went back as far as my patience would allow and all the way back to 2003, they were 5th in payroll once. On average they were between 10-12.

Try again.

I really dont give a crap about LaRussa, I just don't understand why you hate so many people. You never relent. From Lebron, to Duke and Coach K, to LaRussa, and on and on and on. You hold a lot of grudges. Sad and weird really.

I don't hate La Russa. I dislike the cult of La Russa that he is some "genius" or one of the all time great managers.

Fine they were in the top half of the league, did Beane ever have a payroll in the top half of the league? Payroll matters a ton in baseball, especially now that teams have actually started to adopt sabermetric principles.

[Parrot Head]

I'm glad we will no longer have to listen to everyone claiming he is a genius, but the next month or so is going to be brutal with all the LaRussa tributes. This is great news for the Cardinals, unless they bring in a LaRussa like manager that still thinks the hit and run and double switch is a good idea.

Here's he first I saw today from a less likely source...

La Russa’s Lasting Effect on Baseball (WSJ)

He’s credited with inventing the bullpen we know today, where situational relievers are employed in specialized roles. Legions of relievers have him to thank for indirectly extending their careers. So do the high-priced closers who live for the save statistic – with converted (and deteriorating) starter Dennis Eckersley in Oakland, La Russa helped forge the blueprint for the dominant one-inning closer.

Of course, La Russa drove many fans and pundits crazy with his bullpen machinations, and it seemed like he always took it a little further than the next guy. He would use one pitcher for the first out, another for the second and a third to finish out the inning. That’s a lot of dead time in a baseball game.
...
He’ll retire at age 67 with three World Series rings and more overall victories (2,728) than any other modern manager, having left a tremendous mark on baseball.