Cardinals' grassy-knollers are out..... [Update, reply #222: Molina suspended for five games]

[DuWayne Steurer]

If Braun were a Cardinal, 90% of the people on this forum would hate him. Of that, I have no doubt. Lucky for us, there's almost 0% chance of that ever happening.

[pitchleague]

I wonder if RR could think of something nitpicky to complain about at Busch?

the lights on top of the Gateway arch blink once for fastball, twice for breaking balls, and three times for high and tight.

[trwi7]

As you might imagine after last night's heated game between the Brewers and Cardinals, there have been words on both sides this morning.

One of the most interesting exchanges came after St. Louis manager Tony La Russa called out the Brewers' TV broadcast crew for comments made, mostly by analyst Bill Schroeder, after the Cards intentionally hit Ryan Braun with a pitch in retaliation for Albert Pujols being hit.

"I wish they would call the game with integrity and not from one side and only worrying about their paychecks," said La Russa.

La Russa had been told that Schroeder called him "bush league" for throwing at Braun. Schroeder said what he actually said was "that's bush league," especially referring to Motte throwing two pitches at Braun, then walking off the mound toward him as if to challenge him further.

La Russa placed a telephone call to Schroeder to discuss the situation and Schroeder said he clarified that he didn't call the manager "bush league," just the situation. Schroeder said the phone call ended amically.

"I talked to Tony on the phone," said Schroeder. "He called me. We had a nice discussion and we worked it out. I explained to Tony what we said and he was fine with it."

What I find interesting about that situation is that La Russa called Schroeder to talk about it. I guess clearing the air is a good thing.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/126704128.html

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Dragonbait]

Somebody needs to post that over at the RedsZone! lol

[azcheesehead]

Shouldn't LaRussa be worried about winning the series today? Worrying about what Schroeder says seems a little sensitive to me.

 

PS- That Reds forum is a good read. We have an entire city in Ohio rooting for us today.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Don't let him get in your head too Rock...keep callin' it like you see it!

 

LaRussa's whole MO is to get in other team's head and intimidate them. He does it with other teams, managers and broadcasters alike. You wonder why all the St. Louis media are homers? Tony has either hand chosen them or driven them out. Only a few brave souls on talk radio who he can't touch will speak their mind. When he's gone they'll all have the guts to admit he's a jerk. It's like San Fran with Barry Bonds. Yeah they all cheered for him when he was there, but you don't see any Bonds jerseys in the stands.

 

The key is to win games. You want to pay him back last night...then get Braun in and win. Don't get caught up in that crap like Yost did. TLR played him like a fiddle. RR needs to stay above the fray and just keep playing.

[adamb100]

My guess is that adam100 is a closet Cardinals supporter with his Yadi crush and his anti-Braun commentary. That's ok Adam...go register at their fan community....

Not at all. I got banned from the redbirds forum for a comment I made yesterday. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif I dont like TLR at all, I didnt like him saying it was basically the Brewers fault.

 

That screenshot I posted was not meant to be anti braun, it was more to make fun of the cardinals fans that posted the image.

[Thurston Fluff]

I've read several articles on this now and it seems most people are getting kind of sick of the Cards and TLR's antics. This seems to be a pretty typical take on the situation.

[pitchleague]

That screenshot I posted was not meant to be anti braun, it was more to make fun of the cardinals fans that posted the image.

I understood the point of posting that picture.

[owbc]

LaRussa's whole MO is to get in other team's head and intimidate them. He does it with other teams, managers and broadcasters alike. You wonder why all the St. Louis media are homers? Tony has either hand chosen them or driven them out. Only a few brave souls on talk radio who he can't touch will speak their mind. When he's gone they'll all have the guts to admit he's a jerk. It's like San Fran with Barry Bonds. Yeah they all cheered for him when he was there, but you don't see any Bonds jerseys in the stands.

 

The key is to win games. You want to pay him back last night...then get Braun in and win. Don't get caught up in that crap like Yost did. TLR played him like a fiddle. RR needs to stay above the fray and just keep playing.

Excellent analysis. I agree 100%. It makes believe LaRussa does not legitimately believe the Brewers are messing with the lighting or stealing signs. He is just trying to create distractions. There is definitely some method behind LaRussa's comments--and while I know Bill is a nice guy, I wish he would have told LaRussa to shove it.

[adamb100]

As for the Cardinals going after Braun, it's typical La Russa. His guy gets hit -- La Russa even said he thought it was unintentional -- so he then intentionally hits your guy. This stuff seems to happen much more often with the Cardinals, doesn't it? I can't fault La Russa for wanting to protect his star, but his eye-for-an-eye behavior isn't going to stop teams from pitching inside to Pujols. La Russa knows that's part of the game, and his insistence on retaliation has become a tiresome and dangerous tactic.

 

Good ESPN post on the game here: http://espn.go.com/blog/s...-rivalry-suddenly-hotter

[The Truth]

"The Cardinals fashion themselves as the keepers of baseball etiquette....That was uncalled for. It's just bush league, that's what it is. Bush league. ....Once again, they're nothing if not predictable, complain about everything, but that's Cardinal's baseball." - Bill Schroeder

 

Awesome

[rluzinski]

I think Braun is cocky but a jerk? I have seen and heard nothing from Braun that makes me think he is a jerk. As others have said he has been great to the community of Milwaukee, has went out of his way to give props to the team, fans and community, he comes across as an intelligent, confident, hard working guy in interviews. Where does the jerk reference come from. In fact he seems to get along really well with players from other teams when he is on base.

Didn't Hart make some comment a when Braun first came up about when Braun starts getting cocky, they just ignore it? Thought it was in the context of them all being friends.

Here's a thread on the topic from 4 years ago:

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=628/Braun-cocky-or-confident?page=1

[sbrylski]

As for the Cardinals going after Braun, it's typical La Russa. His guy gets hit -- La Russa even said he thought it was unintentional -- so he then intentionally hits your guy. This stuff seems to happen much more often with the Cardinals, doesn't it? I can't fault La Russa for wanting to protect his star, but his eye-for-an-eye behavior isn't going to stop teams from pitching inside to Pujols. La Russa knows that's part of the game, and his insistence on retaliation has become a tiresome and dangerous tactic.

 

Good ESPN post on the game here: http://espn.go.com/blog/s...-rivalry-suddenly-hotter

Although that guy doesn't seem to understand NL baseball. We had to pinch hit, guy:

La Russa does deserve credit for what I think was the key move of the game: He got two innings out of his closer, Fernando Salas, while Ron Roenicke used Francisco Rodriguez andJohn Axford for just one inning each. (K-Rod, in typical K-Rod fashion, threw 29 pitches in his one inning.) The game did mean more for the Cardinals, but most managers stick to an unwritten rule that you can't, under any circumstances, ever use your closer for more than one inning just in case you need him tomorrow, so kudos to La Russa. As a result of those moves, the Brewers used Marco Estrada for two innings, and he got the loss. As maligned as the St. Louis bullpen has been, it pitched six scoreless innings on Tuesday after Garcia got knocked out early.

[razzzorsharp]

http://sports.yahoo.com/m...k-scoreb?urn=mlb-wp14755

 

LaRussa files complaint about the scoreboards at Miller Park.

[DocLuna7]

I hope that we can pull ahead early today and have the luxury of putting some class on the flipside of a Pujols jersey.

[topper09er]

Was at the game yesterday, very, very awesome to just be there and see the ENTIRE stadium stand up and yell when Braun got hit, but I did not see the Braun AB replay until recently. If you watch Molina on the first non-bean pitch he doesnt make much of an effort to catch the ball, which he normally would do just out of a normal reaction. He basically gave away the fact the he was expecting the ball to hit Braun so he need for him to catch it, he was surprised that it didnt hit Braun and wasnt ready to catch the ball.

[jjkoestler]

I was just listening to TH on the D-List and he mentioned that TLR actually called Rock after the game because he didn't like what Rock was saying on the air last night. Anyone have more information on this?

[gregmag]

Tony LaRussa has had a hell of a career, incredible success, and I think in many respects he's a brilliant manager. He'll make the Hall of Fame, and he'll deserve it. But he sure won't be the first loathsome, low character guy to get a plaque. The DUI, the Glenn Beck thing (which I merely mention without comment, so as not to run afoul of our rules about political discussion), his unparalleled care and nurturing of steroid cheats, his constant hypocritical whining and seemingly pathological lying . . . TLR has done a lot to make baseball less enjoyable and less honorable. I'm sure the sport would have at least a few more fans and at least a slightly better reputation if TLR had never been born.

[tomwopat]

The Brewers organization has taken the high road and done everything right regarding the fracas of yesterday's game. Now it's time for the office of the commissioner to step up and set the precedent that this nonsense is not tolerated. LaRussa, Molina, and Motte should be suspended and fined.

[TheCrew]

I was just listening to TH on the D-List and he mentioned that TLR actually called Rock after the game because he didn't like what Rock was saying on the air last night. Anyone have more information on this?

http://www.cbssports.com/...ent-too-far-in-milwaukee

"You would hope that the guys that work for the Brewers have enough

guts and enough integrity to call the game as it is instead of worrying

about their paycheck," La Russa said.

Hey Tony, have you EVER listened to the Cards announcers?

 

 

 

[trwi7]

Breaking News: Local announcers favor home team. More at 10.

[markedman5]

thats the problem Tony...Rock was calling it as it was....everyone but you knows that.

[Crew2323]

Bill Schroeder just went up a notch in my book.

[Ayt]

This gem had me laughing for a bit...

 

Even if its unintentional, you don't pitch that close to the best player

in the game, plus they had been pitching close the whole game which

proves that they had been working that area the whole time so yeah, you

hit us, we send a message. Plus Pujols could have reinjured himself.

Brilliant logic. Pitching inside on hitters isn't okay, but intentionally drilling them is.