Watching Erik Bedard pitch in 100-degree heat probably falls within the definition of "cruel and unusual punishment."

My favorite part of Canada Day is watching a crowd of Canadians rooting for a team almost entirely comprised of players not from Canada.

Boggs in some doodoo here ...

He did exceptionally well , had the cutter going .....

That was great. This is better:

Phillips declined to speak for reporters, but Cueto minced no words.

“I see that I have great numbers,† he said. “I thought the way I pitched this year, I’d have a chance to go to the All-Star Game. I don’t know what happened. I don’t if know the manager of All-Star Game is pissed at me because I went out with one of his girlfriends.â€

Of course Dusty would bitch about this. Of course.

"I don’t if know the manager of All-Star Game is pissed at me because I went out with one of his girlfriends."

Cueto is a lesbian?!?

don.rob11 wrote:

He did exceptionally well , had the cutter going .....

The last two he threw to Jones were pure filth.

"If Dusty doesn't like the All-Star roster, maybe he should try winning a pennant."

If LaRussa wanted to screw Baker, he would have picked Cueto and had him throw the first six innings. And then have Chapman throw the last three.
I could care less how many Cardinals go to this dog-and-pony show. Really, I wish Yadi, Furcal and Beltran weren't going so they'll be rested before the series with TTTIB. And Beltran's inclusion in the stupid Home Run Derby worries me even more.

Sounds like dusty is reaching one last time to me.

"“No way am I going to penalize anybody for any kind of past history. The fact is that Cueto is going to be pitching on Sunday. Some other day, he’s probably on the team.â€

La Russa did take Reds outfielder Jay Bruce over Matt Holliday as a reserve. In fact, La Russa chose nobody from the Cardinals to the current 33-man squad."

Hummel:

"The non-selection of Cueto, he [La Russa] said, was because the righthander, who is 9-4 with a 2.26 earned run average, is slated to pitch next Sunday for the Reds and would be unavailable to pitch in an All-Star Game two days later. La Russa said he also removed Milwaukee's Zack Greinke (9-2) from consideration because he had been told Greinke would be pitching next Sunday.
"If Dusty had been more interested in Cueto being on the team, then he wouldn't be pitching him on Sunday," said La Russa, speaking exclusively to the Post-Dispatch.
"The comments Dusty made clearly disappoint me and are attacking my integrity. The All-Star experience is too important to let anything stand in the way of a decision like that. No way am I going to penalize anybody for any kind of past history. The fact is that Cueto is going to be pitching on Sunday. Some other day, he's probably on the team.
"Tell Dusty he can look in the mirror for Cueto not being on the All-Star team."
As for Phillips, La Russa's hands were tied somewhat because Houston's Jose Altuve surprisingly won the players' vote at that position and Dan Uggla of Atlanta won the fans' vote. La Russa added four position players to the team — catcher Carlos Ruiz of Philadelphia, Washington shortstop Ian Desmond, Florida right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and Cincinnati outfielder Jay Bruce.
"Maybe Dusty could let me know who he would like to take off the team to put Phillips on," said La Russa. "Which of these guys would he like me to kick off? I'd like to know that. There's a second baseman over in Arizona (Aaron Hill) who has credentials to be on the team.
"I don't take that kind of (bleep). That's typical ... (from Baker) and that's unacceptable. There's no question I did the right thing. I haven't been this ticked off since ... well, nothing."
Later in the evening, La Russa, in Aspen, Colo., attending the annual Aspen Ideas Festival, wasn't quite as angry as he had been earlier in the day, but certainly he was flummoxed by Baker's quoted remarks.
"I'm disappointed because he's been through the process," said La Russa, referencing Baker's managing the 2003 All-Star team.
"But I'm insulted that he would question the integrity of the choices I made. I thought he had a higher opinion of me than that. Evidently not."
La Russa did take Bruce over the Cardinals' Matt Holliday as a reserve for the July 10 game in Kansas City. In fact, La Russa, unlike many previous All-Star managers, selected nobody from his (former) team to the current 33-man squad.
Lynn and Molina were players' vote selections and Furcal and Beltran were voted in by the fans, although they would have been selected by the players, too.
Baker, asked by Cincinnati reporters if he would talk to La Russa said, "Too late now. What are we going to talk about now? If you're going to talk to me, you talk before. If they wanted my opinion, they would have asked. I'm sure it's not just Tony's decision."
Cardinals third baseman David Freese, the most valuable player in the league championship series and World Series last year, was named by La Russa as one of the five players on the National League ballot for a special Internet election to choose the 34th player.
The other players on that ballot are Atlanta outfielder Michael Bourn and third baseman Chipper Jones, Hill and Washington phenom Bryce Harper. That on-line voting will continue through Thursday.
In the American League, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols was not chosen, marking the second straight year he hadn't been picked to an All-Star team. Pujols was not selected as an All-Star in his final season with the Cardinals in 2011. He made the NL team in nine of his 10 other seasons with them.
The only late surprises in the NL balloting, largely caused by late Internet returns, were that San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval, who has been hurt for a considerable part of the season, surged past New York's David Wright at third base and that the Giants' Melky Cabrera led vote-getters in the outfield. In defense of that, Cabrera also leads the league in hits.
"Evidently, they put together an effective vote by the fans," La Russa said. "Dusty ought to get on the Cincinnati fans not voting Phillips in."

Last edited by artie_fufkin (7/02/2012 8:28 am)

artie_fufkin wrote:

- The shot at the Reds' fans is priceless.

My thought exactly.

Bernie has a little fun:

"Memo to Dusty: when you return to your manager's office, check the light fixtures. La Russa may have secretly installed a surveillance device. And the "fan" that sits by the Cincinnati dugout, taking photos of Reds players? It seems innocent enough. But the guy could be working for La Russa on a spy mission. Have him frisked, Dusty.

This is hilarious. The Reds are convinced that La Russa is out there, somewhere, plotting against them. They are certain that the diabolical La Russa played dirty roster tricks to enact his black-hearted revenge against Phillips and Cueto.

* * *


The Baker vs. La Russa rivalry was feisty and occasionally ferocious. They brought out the best, and worst, in each other. Baker took La Russa down a few times as manager of the Giants (2002 NLCS), Cubs (2003 NL Central title) and Reds (NL Central champs, 2010.)

But La Russa won the prestigious prizes, the biggest trophies, the rings with the most bling. After riding in a final championship parade and getting the last laugh on Baker, La Russa pulled a fast one on Dusty by retiring two days after the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series.

It was La Russa's third World Series title, giving him a formidable 3-0 lead over Baker. Dusty could never get even now. He watched, helplessly, as La Russa walked away last October with arms raised as the undisputed champion.

Baker is the scarred but proud fighter who wants to get in the ring again to settle an old score with his despised adversary. But TLR is gone now, leaving a frustrated Baker to lunge at La Russa's reputation. To satisfy the need to start another rumble, Baker is swinging at an imaginary target.


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-baker-s-obsession-honors-la-russa/article_edd02608-4224-5edb-a2fa-433b96a14908.html#ixzz1zTU4TTNN