In Case You Forgot Who Was Managing The NL ...

We only caught the last couple of innings of the All-Star game on DVR last night/this morning, so we can only conjecture forthwith that, if the last inning was any indicator, this was actually one of the fun ones. Ichiro hit an inside-the-parker, A-Rod was thrown out at home, the immortal Victor Martinez went deep. But because this was a game managed by Tony La Russa, of course, it came down to the whole story being about Tony La Russa.

Listen, we appreciate all La Russa has done for St. Louis, turning the franchise around after the dreary Joe Torre years, and, you know, winning that World Series last year. But now the rest of you understand the pain of being managed by a guy who just has to Make A Decision, even if it's in the face of logic and, more important (we are talking about the All-Star Game, after all), fun. Outstanding comeback. National League with every opportunity to finally win one of these. One of the best hitters in baseball — his own player! — ready and waiting to pinch hit. And La Russa has to pull one of his "I'm the manager and you cannot comprehend my wisdom" moves. He's been doing this crap for a decade in St. Louis, often in the postseason when the Birds could afford it the least. (One of the reasons St. Louis had its historic October run was because a depleted roster had tied La Russa's hands; he had no choice but not to tinker.)

Yes, Tony, we understand, the game could have gone into extra innings, and it's possible the National League would have run out of players. But Christ, man, you've got Albert Pujols with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth of a one run game! What do you want, anyway? As tends to be the case with La Russa anymore, he's so busy thinking about how he's three steps ahead of everyone else that he walks smack dab into a pole.

We love the guy, and we'll always appreciate him. But it's probably about that time, eh, Tony?

Public Enemy Number One [Contra Gooblar]