Tony had a fit of temporary insanity and, for the first time in 3 days, allowed Yadier Molina to swing away with a runner on base.

LaRussa's recent pattern of "showing confidence" in Molina by not allowing him to swing the bat with runners on has not gone well, especially in yesterday's game in which Molina popped up into a DP on a suicide squeeze. If LaRussa's intent is to take pressure off the struggling young hitter by allowing him to try and execute a bunt to enhance his self esteem because he has "contributed," then he is, in this unlicensed psychoanalyst's opinion, seriously misguided.

The best thing LaRussa can do to relax Molina is to treat him no differently than any other hitter. Let the pitcher bunt with runners on; Molina, who hits in front of the pitcher, should always be swinging away unless it's a close game late. By treating Molina differently, LaRussa is telling him, "something is wrong," or "I don't hink you can handle the everyday big-league task of hitting." It's one thing if it's a do-or-die situation, say, in the postseason, where maybe you pinch-hit if you have to. We're talking about the 1st inning of a game in April.

The last time LaRussa tried to "protect" a young player by treating him differently than he'd treat a "normal" major league player---when he didn't think Rick Ankiel could handle the press conference before Game 1 of the 2001 NLDS and told the media that, no, Darryl Kile would actually be the starter---that player responded by imploding.

Perhaps Tony should let Molina do what hitters do---hit---and pinch-hit for him or rest him when the situation calls for it, the way he does for every other hitter on the team. By treating Molina as if he needs to be treated differently LaRussa is only drawing attention to the kid and adding to the pressure he must already feel and making him question whether he really belongs.

Oh, and by the way, when Yadier swung away he roped a double to right to drive in Grudz. Gee---maybe Tony knows what he's doing after all.