I'm going to throw a name out of left field, but didn't Joe Maddon (Rays' manager) have some sort of ties to St. Louis?  He's in the last year of his contract.  If Tampa isn't willing to pay to extend him, could the Cardinals work something out there?

Complete shot in the dark, but as long as we're throwing things out there.

Webstergrovesalum wrote:

Who could replace Dave Duncan too?

I don't see the pitchers being happy with the idea of duncan leaving, and i assume the only reason duncan hasn't already tested the waters of managing was to stay with larussa, so offering the job to duncan seems like a natural.

Webstergrovesalum wrote:

Who could replace Dave Duncan too?

No one, and losing him will have more of an impact than losing LaRussa will.

APRTW wrote:

Webstergrovesalum wrote:

Who could replace Dave Duncan too?

That I am not sure of.  I always thought Mike Matheny should get into coaching.  However putting him in that position right off would be risky.

I think Matheny has been working with the team on some level. Having him on the staff would be a great idea.

Max wrote:

Wow.  HUGE news.

First thought is, why not Duncan to replace Tony?  That could be the whole plan.  Leave Duncan with a winner.

Second thought is, I hope this isn't a strategy to 'come out of retirement' managing somewhere else.

He'll manage somewhere again. If only because his wife will get sick of him.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Webstergrovesalum wrote:

Who took over for Dave Duncan while he was on leave?  Can't remember the name.  He didn't do so bad.

Derek Lilliquist. The bullpen coach who heard "Lynn" when Tony said "Motte." He'll be lucky to be back after that fiasco.

Yikes!

If I try to brain storm the possible dark implications of this surprise announcement . . .

1) La Russa knows, or strongly suspects, the team will not resign Pujols, and wants to be gone when that happens.

Max wrote:

If I try to brain storm the possible dark implications of this surprise announcement . . .

1) La Russa knows, or strongly suspects, the team will not resign Pujols, and wants to be gone when that happens.

I don't think Pujols has any consequence on what La Russa does.

Duncan has said he expects to be back in 2012.

Very sad day for me. I have been a Larussa fan since 1987 when I first started watching baseball as an Oakland A's fan. I know a lot of people hated his mismanagement, but the success he had cannot be argued. In a sadistic way, I'm looking forward to the post LaRussa Cardinals. Maybe now that he's gone, people will appreciate what he did here.

I can't see Duncan staying without Tony LaRussa. That's like trying to imagine Ed MacMahon staying on after Carson left. Possible I suppose, but difficult to envision.

I don't know Pujols' situation, but I can't see this helping him want to stay here.

In either event... Thanks Tony, you drove me nuts sometimes putting in a new pitcher every other batter, or batting a pitcher 8th. You managed the Cardinals for a very long time, and still had the clubhouse when you left. You were a winner from the moment you arrived until the moment you left. You wore number 10 to bring us a 10th championship. Thank you for also bringing us #11 too.

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Duncan has said he expects to be back in 2012."

Really? That's good news.

My point is: maybe he expects to be back . . . as manager.

He's spent three decades sitting next to a Hall of Famer. He's bound to have learned something about managing.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (11/01/2011 10:41 am)

The other thing is: would Duncan function work well if his new boss was Oquendo???

Shouldn't that be the other way around?

Last edited by Max (11/01/2011 10:50 am)

"Thanks Tony, you drove me nuts sometimes putting in a new pitcher every other batter, or batting a pitcher 8th."

I've tended to get more defensive about La Russa as the years have gone by. It's almost like a Mafia thing - we can rip the guy, but no one outside of the family can.

Max wrote:

The other thing is: would Duncan function work well if his new boss was Oquendo???

Shouldn't that be the other way around?

I don't know what their relationship is, so it's hard to say. I've never noticed them spending a lot of time talking to each other. It seemed like La Russa, Duncan and Pettini hung out at one end of the dugout, and Oquendo hung out at the other end. Whether that's by design, I don't know. I'm not sure what Oquendo's role is when the Cardinals are on defense. If I were to guess, it would probably have to do with positioning, in which case most of his communication with Duncan would be before the game, to see how they're going to approach certain hitters.