Gonzo: Easy to dislike Cardinals' La Russa

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The Phillies lost on Sunday Night. That was the bad news. On a positive note, and as a byproduct, you get to hate Tony La Russa for at least two more games.

La Russa was booed when he complained about the strike zone. He was booed when he took trips to the mound to give his bullpen time to warm up. He was booed when he argued with the umpires and when he made double switches (plural) each time he brought in a new pitcher.

He was booed nearly every time he peeked his 80s sitcom hair out of the visitors dugout.

The Cardinals manager is often billed as a brilliant baseball man. Its a reputation that makes La Russa a hero in St. Louis -- and a villain almost everywhere else. The odd lineup where he bats the pitcher eighth. The extra in-game move no one else would have made. The sometimes condescending answers to otherwise innocuous questions asked by the curiousperplexed media. It all makes him easy to dislike, especially if you arent a Cardinals fan.

On Twitter, there were jokes about him being the equivalent of a Little League manager (because he likes to make sure everyone plays) and a hockey coach (essentially screaming line change! every few innings). Thats the problem with being a genius, real or perceived. The hoi polloi loves to catch Mr. Smarty Pants with his trousers around his ankles.

Problem was, just when it looked like La Russa was about to expose himself, the Cardinals rescued him by pulling out the 5-4 win (see game breakdown). Lucky guy.

La Russa practically got down on his knees and begged his detractors to second guess him when he decided to pitch Chris Carpenter in Game 2 on just three days rest. It was the first time Carpenter had been pushed into service without the usual five-day gap between starts. A lot of people wondered why La Russa would take the chance, especially because Cardinals left-hander Jamie Garcia -- who will throw Game 3 in St. Louis on Tuesday -- allowed just one earned run in 15 innings against the Phillies during the regular season.

Well, since Carpenter has been -- is it 2004, since he's been with our club? He has just been a great pitcher, as good a pitcher as any starting pitcher in either league, especially good in the clutch when you need him, La Russa said. That was part of selecting him for this game. ...So when you -- if there was a way to pitch him, and the way it fell, there is a way. He loves to compete. He's got a lot of weapons, so you've got this competitive heart and you've got his talent, and we feel good when he pitches. He's got a tough lineup to face, but he's the whole ball of wax.

Maybe so, but the wax melted pretty early on Sunday evening. Jimmy Rollins entered the game 5 for 28 against Carpenter with no extra base hits. He promptly doubled off the wall to lead off the game, and the Phillies went on to score three runs in the first inning, two of which were driven in by Ryan Howard. Carpenter was knocked out of the game after just three innings and 64 pitches.

It was hard to blame Carpenter. I dont function nearly as well on short rest, either. At least his arm didnt have bed head or bags under its eyes.

But Carpenter -- and by extension La Russa -- were saved when the Cardinals came back to tie the game in the sixth. St. Louis took the lead in the seventh inning when Albert Pujols knocked an RBI-single just over the head of Rollins. The fans, some 46,575 of them -- the biggest crowd ever at Citizens Bank Park -- got pretty quiet then.

Even though La Russas big gamble of throwing Carpenter in Game 2 didnt work out at all, and even though the Phils were fortunate enough to face a Cardinals bullpen that was dreadful during the regular season and blew an astounding 26 saves, St. Louis still grabbed the victory and tied the series at 1-1. La Russa seemed pretty pleased about that thereafter -- despite the fact that the biggest decision he made in the game, starting Carpenter, nearly put his club two-game hole.

Its that attitude, that chest-puffing superiority even when success comes almost in spite of his direct decisions, that bothers some people. And his players know it.

Some people -- he's totally different from the inside than he is from the outside looking in, Lance Berkman said in an attempt to defend his manager. I know what I thought of him when I played against him, and I know what I think about him now, and it's just totally different than you would expect.

If you say so, Lance. But good luck getting anyone outside of St. Louis to agree.
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com

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