Monday, July 18, 2011

Oops! Tony La Russa turns in wrong lineup card on Friday

Look, don't try to talk to Tony La Russa when he's making out the lineup card, OK?

If you do happen to shoot the bull with the St. Louis Cardinals manager while he's doing something pertaining to the game, you're liable to distract him. And if you take his focus away from the task at hand, he could end up doing something that he claims he's never done in his 33 seasons of managing in the major leagues.

As detailed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Rick Hummel, La Russa handed the wrong lineup card to the umpiring crew before Friday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He intended to give catcher Yadier Molina the night off, but accidentally wrote him on the lineup card he made out a day earlier. La Russa caught the mistake on Friday afternoon and had backup catcher Gerald Laird on the lineup card he sent to the Arizona coaches. But Molina's name was still on the card he gave to the umpires ? which was then given to the D-Backs ? at home plate.

D-Backs manager Kirk Gibson noticed the differences between the two lineup cards and brought it to home plate umpire Ed Rapuano's attention after the first inning, when Laird had taken the field. Rapuano informed La Russa that he'd effectively made a substitution, so Molina couldn't come into the game.

"No excuse," La Russa said Saturday. "Messed up, and it could have been significant."

Did the mistake end up costing the Cardinals a win?

In the ninth inning, La Russa used outfielder Jon Jay to pinch hit for Laird, which seemed like the smart move ? bringing in a left-handed batter to face right-hander David Hernandez.

The Cards were down to their last out with two runners on. And Jay (batting .295 overall, though .133 as a pinch hitter) looked like a much better option to drive in a run than Laird (batting .217).

Jay grounded out to second, closing out a 7-6 loss. But if Molina had been available, would La Russa have pinch-hit for Laird earlier, in the eighth, with a runner on? Perhaps the Cardinals would have tied the game then, and Molina would've batted in the ninth. Or, if Jay had driven in the tying run in the ninth, third-string catcher Tony Cruz would have taken the field in the 10th.

(Or maybe La Russa had the wrong catcher in there all along; Cruz hit a game-winning RBI double as a pinch hitter Saturday night.)

No outcome was assured, regardless of whether La Russa had filled out his lineup card correctly. But in a tight, four-team race at the top of the NL Central, one game ? even one at-bat ? ultimately could make a huge difference.

La Russa will surely remember that and ask for silence each time he makes out his lineup from here on out.

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