Albert Pujols, the most irresistible force in offensive baseball, is signing up to play for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
In Southern California, they are elated.
In the heartland, they are rationalizing.
In Arlington, they’re going to have to work a lot harder to keep that AL West division title. Especially with C.J. Wilson joining the Halos, oh by the way.
One more thing: We know Albert already looks good in red.
You know how the NBA is cannibalizing itself right now, and how that totally sucks? Especially if you’re not psychotically clamped to the NFL teat?
Good news. Major League Baseball won’t be doing that for at least another five years. Say what you will about Bud, but the lessons learned from the 1994-95 strike have not been forgotten. Credit to both sides. Play ball.
Bob Forsch has died. The former Cardinals pitcher was 61. Forsch was the 3rd-winningest pitcher in Cardinals history. He threw two no-hitters, including the one seen above in 1983.
Sometimes, the news requires bullet points and brief (cheap?) commentary. Sometimes. Like today.
One of the many great things about sports – including baseball – is that we generally see merit win out over other factors. This is true for individuals and teams. While we may get screwed over at work because of politics, this is less likely – we believe – to happen in the world of sports, because success and failure is so clearly defined.
This meritocratic tendency of sports has helped larger society deal with big problems. At the top of that list is race. Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, Tommy Smith, et al.
So, then. Kindly hold your nose at what appears to be a rather crude appreciation of Albert Pujols. The question: Where does Albert rank all time among Latino baseball players?
Would we have a list of greatest black NBA stars?
Another signature La Russa strategy that has become commonplace is the batter-by-batter bullpen management. LaRussa, to some, micromanages his relievers and who they face. La Russa, to some, is an evil man who took baseball out of an era when Manly Men-Warriors like Jack Morris and Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan threw complete games 30 times a season.
This perception of La Russa, like the perception of the predominance of complete-game-throwers in an earlier era, is flawed. But is does inspire passion.
And so, when La Russa’s bullpen marionette manipulator scheme goes awry in a tied Game 5 of a tied World Series…the critics get their lumps in. Some questionable baserunning decisions can also be linked to questionable decisions made by La Russa. He’s fair game after that farcical display from St. Louis.
A warning to all baseball lovers: Be cautious in bashing Tony LaRussa. There are at least 9 innings, and hopefully more, remaining in this World Series. There is still plenty of time for him to make us all look like dunces.
The reports are out there. Terry “Tito” Francona will not return as manager of the Red Sox after the team’s historic September collapse caused them to miss the playoffs.
Francona is apparently not being fired, technically. But his time in the Boston dugout is, apparently, done.
Francona managed the Red Sox to the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles, Boston’s first since 1918.
Your move, Red Sox Nation. Is this a massive jinx?
