JVO
09-23-2005, 03:23 PM
I am in the process of reading "Three Nights in August" (by Pulizer Prize winning auther Buzz Bissinger...he also wrote "Friday Night Lights another great book), and if you are at all interested in baseball or the St. Louis Cardinals, it is a must read. Tony LaRussa allowed this author to live with the team for the entire 2003 season and record everything he saw. The book is specifically about a three game series against the Cubs, but since the author spent the entire year with La Russa and the Cards he was able to put everything in context. I am only about a third of the way through, and I have learned more about baseball and the Cardinals than I thought was possible. One thing that the book went into was Albert Pujols shoulder injury in 2003. I remember that his arm was bothering him and that they moved him to 1st base (that was the first time he ever played 1st) to try to protect him, but I never knew the extent of the injury. The doctors told the GM (Walt Jockety) and Tony LaRussa that if Albert threw a ball over 25 feet he was in danger of never being able to use his arm again (let alone play baseball). The Cards were in the middle of a penant race so La Russa would play Pujols at 1st against slow power teams, and put him in left against fast, base stealing teams. Before the strategy was used, Walt Jockety had a meeting with Albert and Tony and said that if Albert, in the heat of the moment, made a throw and further injured himself, that he would immediately fire Tony La Russa. Tony understood this and asked Albert if he could be trusted to not throw. Albert simply said yes sir, and went 3 weeks of the season, playing every game, and he never once made an overhanded throw. During this time the Cards went 14-5 and Albert hit 8 Homeruns. Tony said that there is no other player in his 40 years of coaching that he would put that much trust in.
Other personnel things I have learned:
JD Drew is an absolute worthless Dick!
Kerry Robinson is barely literate, and refuses to follow instructions.
Matt Morris is an emotional basketcase who will never fulfil his promise.
Woody Williams drinks too much.
Nobody likes Jim Edmonds.
At least 2 Redbirds were using steroids (don't know who but my guess is Edmonds, Rolen, or Drew)
La Russa thinks pitchers are the lowest form of life.
Tony La Russa has lived in a hotel for 35 years of his life. Even during home games (acutally he still lives in Oakland) he lives in a hotel. He only sees his family a handful of times a year.
Tony has not eaten meat in over 50 years.
In a poll given to players they were asked to name the top three managers in MLB and the bottom three managers. Tony LaRussa was voted the best and the worst manager in baseball by the players.
Anyway I highly recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in the finer points of baseball. It really breaks it down, and Tony LaRussa in one of the greatest baseball minds in the history of the sport.
Other personnel things I have learned:
JD Drew is an absolute worthless Dick!
Kerry Robinson is barely literate, and refuses to follow instructions.
Matt Morris is an emotional basketcase who will never fulfil his promise.
Woody Williams drinks too much.
Nobody likes Jim Edmonds.
At least 2 Redbirds were using steroids (don't know who but my guess is Edmonds, Rolen, or Drew)
La Russa thinks pitchers are the lowest form of life.
Tony La Russa has lived in a hotel for 35 years of his life. Even during home games (acutally he still lives in Oakland) he lives in a hotel. He only sees his family a handful of times a year.
Tony has not eaten meat in over 50 years.
In a poll given to players they were asked to name the top three managers in MLB and the bottom three managers. Tony LaRussa was voted the best and the worst manager in baseball by the players.
Anyway I highly recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in the finer points of baseball. It really breaks it down, and Tony LaRussa in one of the greatest baseball minds in the history of the sport.