La Russa on McGwire, others in Mitchell Report
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
Q: You have more than your fair share of Mitchell Report guys on this team. Does it bother you that there's a perception that you give safe harbor to steroid guys?
La Russa: "No, and I'll tell you why not. One way I was taught to survive is my No. 1 accountability factor is myself. This is my 30th year doing this at the major league level. There isn't anybody — the commissioner, our owner, the fans, you — there isn't any person, man or woman, who can make me any more accountable than I am now right now because of myself. And I know there isn't anything we've done in all those years that was — with one small exception where we stole signs, a little hiccup — there isn't anything else that has happened on our ballclubs in Oakland or St. Louis that there's a hint of illegality. There isn't anything that we didn't actively and proactively attempt to do it right."
Q: But that's not what most of us think.
La Russa: "You're missing my point. If I'm going to base the way I survive on everything that others think, I have no chance."
Dyer Perspective:
This is a great article and if you have time, go to stltoday.com to read the rest of the story.
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La Russa wanted to pursue Bonds
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — The possibility of free agent home run king Barry Bonds hitting behind Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' batting order remained intriguing enough this winter for manager Tony La Russa to take the idea to general manager John Mozeliak and team owners a second consecutive year, La Russa confirmed Sunday.
And for a second straight winter, the idea died in committee.
"When you look at somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert, Barry was the guy I thought of," La Russa acknowledged before Sunday's workout. "For whatever reason, at the general manager or the ownership level, they didn't agree."
La Russa said he consulted his coaching staff before making the recommendation and received a positive response from some, but not all.
Any intrigue surrounding the possibility evaporated when Mozeliak concurred with the owners that signing Bonds would run counter to the club's stated commitment this season to younger players.
"It became moot as soon as I raised it and they said no," La Russa said.
Mozeliak confirmed discussing the matter as well as underscoring his lack of enthusiasm for the idea.
"Tony and I discussed it. I never got the feeling this was something he wanted to push for. He had some interest in it," Mozeliak said. "To me, to bring in somebody as protection in case something happened is a very different equation."
Dyer Perspective:
What in the hell Tony - did you do a Coder and slip and fall in the shower and bust your head? The last thing we need in St. Louis right now is a clubhouse distracting, big headed, overly-hyped, needle pushing, asteriked Barry Bonds. The man is a Carnivale Sideshow that Cardinal Nation wants absolutely NOTHING to do with. Nice job Mo, you’ve got my unwavering support on this issue.
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Walker weighs in on steroids era
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — When the report that called into question the era in which he starred became public, former Cardinal Larry Walker shared a laugh with a few neighbors.
"Gee, I might go into the Hall of Fame now," Walker said he joked. "There's nobody left from when I retired. I'm the only one that year who didn't get busted."
He jests and exaggerates, but he may have a point.
Walker, who retired in 2005, joined the Cardinals' spring training Monday as a guest coach. He'll make a few appearances this week — working with outfielders, throwing batting practice and cracking wise — and then be a regular around workouts later in March. From 1995 to 2002, no hitter had a better average than Walker's .341 for Colorado. He won three batting titles (hitting .350 or better for each) and won the MVP in 1997, the eve of baseball's brawniest summer.
The Mitchell Report identifies the late 1990s and early 2000s as the time steroids and other banned substances took root in the game and became "widespread." The stain of steroid allegations has already affected Hall of Fame voting, so could it have the opposite effect on bubble candidates like Walker, who had seven Gold Gloves to go with a .313 average and 383 homers in a career hampered by injury?
"If I stuck a needle in me, then there was pancake batter in it, not steroids," Walker joked. He then said: "Do I feel good that I did it clean? My feeling on the steroid thing (is) if it wasn't banned, then what's the problem? I think once they started testing, once they banned it from the sport, why don't they go forward from there instead of digging into the past to see what happened?
"I don't know what the politically correct thing to say on this topic is," Walker continued. "That's just my opinion."
Dyer Perspective: Pancake batter?
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Wainwright seems set for opening day
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals are reluctant to confirm the obvious, but Adam Wainwright is set to be the club’s opening day starter.
The righthander, and proxy ace of the staff, will make his spring debut Friday against the New York Mets.
Holding to the Cardinals’ current rotation, Wainwright would be on turn to start March 31 at Busch Stadium against the defending National League champions, the Colorado Rockies, in the regular-season opener.
Dyer Perspective:
Thank God Aaron Miles is back. We may need him this year on the mound at this rate...
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And, Boom Goes The Dynamite
Contributing Editor: El Birdos
Yadier Molina offered this startling revelation when ask to asses starting pitcher Anthony Reyes.
"When he can locate every pitch, he's totally different."
Dyer Perspective:
Nice observation there Yadi and a tip of the cap to Lt. Dan for the new column.
