St. Louis Cardinals Hire Mike Matheny to Replace Tony La Russa

Mike Matheny is dusting off his vast baseball knowledge and putting it to use with one of his old teams.

The 41-year-old former St. Louis Cardinals catcher was hired as the team's new manager Monday morning, replacing long-time skipper Tony La Russa. He's got some big shoes to fill, but catchers reportedly know the game better than anyone so we think he has a shot.

Matheny, who has been called a born leader by many of his former teammates and managers, played for the Cardinals from 2000-04, winning three of his four Gold Gloves there along with a World Series Championship. Unfortunately, his career came to an abrupt end in 2006 due to repeated concussions.

Matheny was one of six guys St. Louis interviewed to replace La Russa, including Terry Francona. So as adorable as he is, it's a little surprising he was hired considering the zero managerial experience he has.

We will say this: he didn't look half as terrified and confused as Robin Ventura did during his press conference.

[Viva El Birdos]

Tony La Russa to Retire from Baseball and Save all the Puppies and Kitties

February 18: It snowed in the Sahara Desert for like a half hour.

April 1: The Pinwheel Network became Nickelodeon and began entertaining children everywhere.

July 1: The Sony Walkman went on sale for the first time in Japan.

The year was 1979, the same year attorney at law Tony La Russa managed his very first baseball game. The 67-year-old skipper, who has stepped down as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and opted for retirement, began his managerial journey with the Chicago White Sox, where he remained until 1986 when he became manager of the Oakland Athletics. He led that club to three consecutive World Series from 1988 to 1990, sweeping an earthquake-delayed Fall Classic against the San Francisco Giants in '89. He stuck around Oakland until the 1995 season before moving to St. Louis to take over the Cardinals, where he has enjoyed two Championships.

La Russa, who has managed 5,097 games, ranks third in big league history in victories (2,728), trailing only the legendary Connie Mack and John McGraw. The man has been around longer than many of you have been alive. Oddly enough, he's the first manager to ever retire immediately after winning the World Series.

Now, the vegetarian and his wife Elaine will continue their quest to save all the puppies and kitties while they head up the Animal Rescue Foundation, a no-kill shelter based in Walnut Creek, California. Ah-dorable.

Happy trails, Tony. We'll miss your chicken legs, non-stop action in the bullpen, and winning ways.

[CNN]

Ron Washington Sends Matt Harrison to the Hill for Game 7 Against Chris Carpenter

The Texas Rangers were just one strike away from their first World Series Championship not once, but twice Thursday night in what ended up being one of the most exciting Fall Classic games in baseball history.

We can't really tell whether it was a Rangers bullpen meltdown, or a surging St. Louis Cardinals comeback, but either way the rally squirrel prevailed for an 11th-inning walkoff bomb by hometown boy David Freese for a 10-9 victory to force a Game 7 at Busch Stadium.

Tony La Russa Overmanages, Micromanages, Mismanages in Cardinals Game 5 Loss

With the World Series all evened up to a clean slate, tied at two games a-piece after Derek Holland's mustache took center stage in Game 4, the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers took to Game 5 with both of their aces on the hill.

Chris Carpenter lasted seven solid innings, surrendering just two runs on six hits with four strikeouts before reliever Octavio Dotel coughed up the eventual winning runs on a Mike Napoli two-run double in the eighth. Opposing pitcher C.J. Wilson tossed just over five innings with little control, walking five with two runs (one earned) on four hits. Four Rangers relievers combined for three hits to save the game and bring the series back to St. Louis with a one-game Texas lead after the 4-2 win.

Nyjer Morgan Calls Family Seating Incident in St. Louis "Bush League"

As the NLCS Turns...

Just when we thought that perhaps the bitter rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers was simmering down a little bit, we get the news of the unfortunate FAMILY SEATING INCIDENT.

The Brewers were super pissed when they showed up at Busch Stadium on Wednesday to discover that the 350 tickets allotted to their family members for the three NLCS games in St. Louis were not exactly where they supposed to be.

The entire bunch were supposed to be seated in an awesome party suite, but only 200 tickets were designated for that area with the other 150 scattered throughout the ballpark. This, just a day after Tony La Russa in his perpetual bitch mode filed an official complaint regarding Miller Park's scoreboard. We're not even going to get into that whole ordeal, because it's dumb as hell, but you can read more about it here.

Nyjer Morgan, the main instigator of this particular rivalry, had this to say:

"You know I think it's bush [league]. Our families, they've got to be secured. It's kind of garbage. We put their [families] in a secure section and then they want to spread ours out. I don't know why they play the mental games, but that right there, they shouldn't play the games right there because that's our family and our family has got to be secure. But that's just them, that's how they operate right there I guess."

Bush league... like plowing into catchers at the plate when there's clearly no play being made? Or charging the mound after you lose your temper? Or talking shit just because you struck out? We all know what they say about opinions.

We do think it's worth noting, however, that the families of St. Louis players were all seated behind home plate within the safety of the net while in Milwaukee, and the family members of the Philadelphia Phillies players were given the same courtesy at Busch Stadium during the NLDS...

Game 4 is all set for 8:05pm ET on TBS. Enjoy.

[ESPN]

Brewers Sport their Rally Caps, Beat Cardinals in NLCS Opener

It's pretty amazing the way Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder can turn a game around.

The Milwaukee Brewers rallied in the fifth inning of NLCS Game 1 against their bitter division rivals with huge back-to-back hits by Braun and Fielder to come away with a 9-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braun launched a 463-foot, two-run bomb in the first inning before adding a two-run double during the huge six-run fifth. Fielder followed up with a homer worth two runs before Yuniesky Betancourt capped the comeback with a two-run shot of his own.

While we were honestly hoping for a few plunkings, maybe a bench-clearing brawl, and definitely some more smack-talk from the two sides, all we got was a small stir-up and an umpire's warning to Tony La Russa after Jaime Garcia hit Fielder immediately after Braun's first inning longball.

Brewers ace Zack Greinke, who made some awkward comments regarding Chris Carpenter and his "phony attitude" on Saturday, hinted that there may have been some heckling coming from the opposing dugout on Sunday:

David Freese Drives in Four Runs, Cardinals Force NLDS Game 5

It was the David Freese Show Wednesday night in St. Louis, with the third baseman hitting a home run and a double for a total of four RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Phillies 5-3 and force a deciding Game 5 back in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park.

After going 2-for-12 with just one RBI over the first three games of the series, Freese nailed a two-run double in the fourth inning before his two-run bomb to deep center in the sixth. Also, the hot corner had the the most awesome quote of the postseason so far:

"We're going to come to the yard and give it a hard nine."

Hell yeah buddy.

Lance Berkman, who's looking more and more like Fat Elvis these days -- especially when he runs, smoked a double in the first to score a run as well, before being allowed third base on a Shane Victorino throwing error.

Edwin Jackson was sucking it up early, but he recovered to win his very first playoff start ever. It was a momentous occasion for him. After serving up two longballs on his first five pitches, it was not looking good for the Cardinals starter, but he ended up tossing six solid innings, giving up just those two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Then, in true Tony La Russa fashion, five relievers finished the game, with closer Jason Motte being the only one to pitch an entire inning all by himself.

Game 5 is Friday night at 8:37pm ET on TBS, featuring a rematch of Cy Young-winning aces Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter. This is going to be a great contest, and it's literally anyone's game. So don't miss it.

[Usa Today]

Cardinals Rally Past Phillies, Cliff Lee is Human After All

The Philadelphia Phillies, as damn near unbeatable as they've been all season, were unable to stop the St. Louis Cardinals from rallying for a 5-4 win Sunday night to even up the National League Division Series at 1-1.

The Amazing Cliff Lee blew a four-run lead against the NL Wild Card winners, giving up five runs on 12 hits with nine strikeouts in 6-plus innings to lose his third consecutive playoff start. He's now 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA over his last three outings... looks like he's human after all.

St. Louis took the lead in the seventh when Allen Craig led off with a triple thanks to a botched catch by center fielder Shane Victorino. Then Albert Pujols, who had struck out in his previous two at bats, lined one over Jimmy Rollins' head to give his team the 5-4 lead.

Tony La Russa is Being a Big Baby

Apparently, Tony La Russa has never been to Detroit.

The St. Louis Cardinals manager said Tuesday that the heckling he and his team experienced in Milwaukee during their 8-7, 11-inning victory that night was completely out of control. One fan went as far as to tell him he hoped he would get shingles, which he suffered from for a couple months at the beginning of the season. That's wasn't so nice I guess.

As a result, Miller Park security kicked out several fans near St. Louis’ dugout during the game. La Russa had this to say after the ordeal:

There's Always Next Year...

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said it best,

"We got beat, so you take the heat."

His team was swept out of the NLDS by the Los Angeles Dodgers in dramatic fashion, with a 5-1 win in Game 3 Saturday night. That entire series was absolutely ridiculous.

Twitter 1, Tony La Russa 0

In case you were wondering what ever happened to that Tony La Russa v. Twitter case, he has quietly dropped his law suit against the social networking site which people use to distribute news, links and tell us what their cat is up to.

The lawsuit, originally filed back in May in San Francisco Superior Court before being transferred to federal court in June, alleged trademark infringement, "cybersquatting" and misappropriation of his name. Basically, someone set up a Twitter account in La Russa'a name and then said a bunch of dumb crap about his DUI and the recent deaths of St. Louis Cardinals players. This apparently caused him emotional stress, so he sued.

Twitter resolved the dispute by deleting the account in accordance with its Terms and Agreement and didn't end up paying the Cardinals manager a dime toward legal fees. They also didn't make any sort of donation toward his Animal Rescue Foundation. Poor puppies.

[Big League Stew] | [Mashable!] | [The Legalizer]

Molina #3 Flips Out

St. Louis Cardinals backstop Yadier Molina was more than a little unhappy with home plate umpire Paul Schrieber Monday.

Catching the fifth inning of the 8-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the little Molina was tossed for arguing balls and strikes on the Corey Hart at bat, leading him to relocate his gear to a frumpy pile at Blue's feet.

Cards skipper Tony La Russa, despite being surrounded by Molina's discarded equipment while defending his player and getting himself ejected, denies knowing his catcher took it off until he left the field.

I hear eye sight is the first to go, then one day, you're wandering the streets in your bathrobe.

[Bare Baseball]

Rick Ankiel Homers, Tony La Russa Cries

Rick Ankiel, a failed pitcher turned heroic outfielder, launched a three-run jack over the right-field wall in his first game back in the big leagues to help the St. Louis Cardinals surge to a 5-0 victory over the San Diego Padres Thursday night.

The longball received a standing ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd, demanding a curtain call from the once crappy left-hander, who walked off the mound over two years ago.

Adam Wainwright's World Series-winning strikeout last season, saying "I'm fighting my butt off to keep it together."

The homer was the third of Ankiel's career and the first since April of 2000. Way to go, buddy!

[Viva El Birdos]

Pouty Albert Pujols

We all saw this one coming.

Albert Pujols is upset about not getting to play in Tuesday night's All-Star game, pouting and questioning his own manager, Tony La Russa. Puhols had this to say:

It's the All-Star game. He can do what he wants. He does whatever he wants. If I wasn't expecting to play, I wouldn't have come up here.

The 2005 NL MVP and puzzle-piece to the St. Louis Cardinals' World Series victory last year, claims La Russa didn't speak to him the entire game.

Imagine the powerlessness - Pujols wanted to be the one to fly out with the bases loaded to end the comeback instead of Aaron Rowand.

2007 All-Star Starters Named

Jim Leyland chain-smoked all night and finally decided on a starter for the American League. Dan Haren - the smoking hot Oakland Athletics ace who boasts an AL-leading 2.30 ERA with a 10-3 record. Ah, let's not forget the Grizzly Adams neck beard.

After dropping his first two starts of the season, Haren knocked off ten straight victories before losing his last one against the Seattle Mariners Friday night.

Walt Jocketty Bans Booze in Clubhouse

Just five days after Josh Hancock's fatal car wreck, the St. Louis Cardinals banned alcohol from the clubhouse.

Manager Tony La Russa said general manager Walt Jocketty decided on the ban earlier today without consulting players or management. La Russa added it was a "largely symbolic move" since players don't drink much in the clubhouse anyway. A road-prohibition is also being considered.

"It's meaningful," La Russa said. "But it's not a significant factor in our clubhouse because our guys don't stay in the clubhouse to drink."

[St. Louis Post Dispatch] | [Bare Baseball]

Sweet Mugshot, Tony La Russa

If this story doesn't make your day, I don't know what will.

Tony La Russa was arrested Thursday night after police found him passed out drunk at a stop light in his SUV.

Two Jupiter, Florida undercover police officers found the 62-year-old St. Louis Cardinals manager parked partly in an intersection, his vehicle running with his foot on the brake around midnight. After he failed to go through two green lights, the cops knocked on his window, but he did not respond.

When he eventually woke up, the officers asked him to get out of the car. La Russa was then hauled in on a drunken driving charge after taking two breath tests with a blood alcohol content of .093%, just a bit over the legal limit of .08%.

He was arrested and booked at the Palm Beach County jail on the misdemeanor, then was released at about 8:30 a.m. after posting a $500 cash bond. By now, he's either sleeping it off or getting bitched at by his wife.

La Russa is a four-time manager of the year and led the Cardinals to a World Series championship last season. He also won the title in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics and has won three other pennants. His 2,297 wins over 28 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, A's and Cardinals is third all-time. Now he can add Idiot Drunk Driver to his resume.

Editor's Note: In all seriousness, driving drunk is one of the most retarded things a person can do. We hope Mr. La Russa won't take this lightly and never get busted again.

[St. Louis Post Dispatch]