Viva 2003
« Minor Points | Main | The loneliest number... »The Cards got swept by the Reds tonight in a game reminiscent of several in the first week of May, 2003. Flashbacks are imminent - as in why Brian Falkenborg (who?) opened the bottom of the 9th on the mound in a tie game. Can you say Dustin Hermanson? I'll admit, I'd been paying so little attention to the Cards lately that I didn't even know Falkenborg had been called up. Izzy's struggles have obviously caused greater issues within the bullpen, but, with Looper pitching better, why put him in so early (bottom 7th) against the bottom of the Reds' lineup? And then leave Falkenborg in to start the 9th with a slew of other right-handers available in the pen? ...Interesting, Tony. With the lineup struggling aside from God and a few others, the Cards can't afford to see the bullpen fail like it did today - especially with the chance to pick up a big win against a divisional opponent on Albert's day off.
Posted by MO Boiler at May 2, 2006 10:55 PMWhy the heck did they take Looper out after 2/3 of an inning. I was there by the way.
Posted by: Daniel at May 2, 2006 11:14 PMI didn't see the game but I'm going to guess Looper was pulled because Felipe Lopez, a switch hitter, and Dunn, a lefty, were coming up. Looper is very effective against righties (231/289/287 over last 3 years) but not so much against lefties (307/356/466).
Posted by: k-matt at May 3, 2006 06:35 AMI wasn't asking why he was pulled, I was asking why he was wasted starting the 7th inning against the bottom of the Reds' lineup with the likes of Wainwright, Thompson, and yes, even Falkenborg also in the bullpen.
Posted by: MO Boiler at May 3, 2006 11:56 AMDo not question Tony.
He's won 2,231 games in the Major Leagues, which is a lot more than any of us.
Unless one of you is secretly Connie Mack or John McGraw.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2006 12:23 PMIf anyone is interested, I put a page together that has news feeds from popular Cardinals news outlets and blogs
http://www.dcdeal.com/cardinals/
Posted by: Z at May 3, 2006 12:34 PMDo not question Tony? I'm sorry, but where's the fun in that? If you're not questioning the manager -- especially one given to such quirky moves as LaRussa -- then you're barely rooting for your team. Sure, TLR has more wins than any of us, and he's a HoF manager in my opinion, but...
1) he's had more opportunities to manage a team and win those 2,231 games than any of us have had;
2) just because he's a good manager does not mean he's always right.
I'm certainly not saying that any of us fans would make a better manager than TLR, but I am saying that his status does not make him beyond questioning. It's baseball, after all; not rocket science. TLR knows his players better than we do, I'll freely admit, but if you don't question *why* he used Falkenborg in such a high-leverage situation, then you must not care.
I'm pretty sure salvo was being sarcastic... if we couldn't question the manager, this blog and almost all of sports talk radio/tv/blogosphere wouldn't exist.
Mo Boiler, clever link "several".
I'm not too worried about this stuff. I am surprised by Cincy's success this far, but still think it will trail off. I think this part of the season is a great time to give your team and especially bullpen different looks, even if it supposedly in hindsight costs us a game or two. Second half of the season will be different.
Posted by: Ryan at May 3, 2006 02:31 PMAh, sorry. My sarcasm detector sometimes goes on the fritz.
Posted by: JeffW at May 3, 2006 03:06 PMYeah---I'm usually more blatant in my sarcasm, but I was being sarcastic.
I'm no fan of Tony's, but I do pull for the guy, and I hope like crazy his boneheaded moves work out. But I admit, I find myself howling at the TV more often than not when it's time for Tony to make (or not make) a decision.
I believe a manager like Davey Johnson would have won about three World Series with the teams that LaRussa has. I will not be sorry to see him leave the Cardinals.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2006 05:22 PMI'll be sorry to see LaRussa leave because that will likely mean the Cardinals don't have a good enough team to keep him interested.
Posted by: Rob at May 3, 2006 10:05 PM