The real reason

I've been known to have a slight inclination towards the notion that perhaps I might be somewhat INTO the sport of BASEBALL.

I'm actually a student of the game.....not so much a student of the statistics, even though I value the statistics that arise from playing the game.

The game comes down to the moment.

It's the real be here now experience. Strategy can affect outcome if performance unfolds according to strategy but anyone who truly follows the game knows that strategy is just another crap shoot if the performance intended is not

performed correctly

I like watching great athletes try to do something extremely hard and succeed....I also like it when they try to do something extremely hard and don't succeed.

THE CONFRONTATION

HITTING A HARD SMALL ROUND SPHERE WHEN IT IS COMING TOWARD YOU AT 98 MILES AN HOUR IS EXTREMELY HARD

HITTING A HARD SMALL ROUND SPHERE WHEN IT IS MOVING IN SOME OPTICAL ILLUSIONARY PATH IS EXTREMELY HARD

THROWING A HARD SMALL ROUND SPHERE FROM 60 FEET AT 95 MILES AN HOUR IS A HARD THING TO DO.....

THROWING A HARD SMALL ROUND SPHERE FROM 60 FEET AND BEING ABLE TO CONTROL IT'S DESTINATION BY ONE OR TWO INCHES IS EXTREMELY HARD.

THAT CONFRONTATION IS THE MOMENT THAT BASEBALL FANS RECOGNIZE AS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT THAT OCCURS IN THE GAME....although the action that results from it usually determines the outcome of any one game.

All the things that happen as a result of that confrontation determine if there will be great plays or bad plays or silly plays or average plays.

THAT CONFRONTATION BETWEEN A GREAT HITTER AND GREAT PITCHER IS TRULY WHAT THE GAME IS ALL ABOUT.

IN THE MAJOR LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME THAT WAS PLAYED LAST WEEK IN SAN FRANCISCO.....ONE MAN DECIDED THAT BASEBALL FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD WOULD NOT GET TO SEE A CLASSIC CONFRONTATION.

A CLASSIC CONFRONTATION can only takes place when a game of importance is on the line.

An All-Star game played between the National and American League....that will determine which league gets Home Field advantage during the World Series....is an important game.

Tony LaRussa, the manager of the reigning World Champion St. Louis Cardinals decided that the collective we, baseball fans, were not entitled to witness a classic confrontation.

I'll set the scene in case you were sleeping or simply don't like the game of baseball....in which case you probably stopped reading five minutes ago....

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH.....National League is losing 5-4. Bases are loaded and there are two outs. The National League has not won an All-Star game since 1996.

On the bench waiting for the perfect moment, not having played previously so that he might be available for a classic confrontation, is one of the best five hitters in Major League baseball....in fact, five years ago, Tony LaRussa, his manager then and still, said this player was the best hitter he had ever seen.

ALBERT PUJOIS is on the bench.......waiting for this moment.

On the mound is Francisco Rodriquez of the Los Angeles Angeles in Anaheim, arguably one of the three best closers in baseball....and he is rattled. He has just walked two batters and is noticeably out of sync.

45,000 FANS ARE GOING NUTS......and of course we all know that going nuts in San Francisco is a fairly common experience, but collectively having 45,000 people going nuts at the same time....is unique. BASEBALL FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD KNOW WHAT COMING.......and all of us have perked up and are sitting a little closer to the edge of our seats.

THE MOMENT IS SET

THE CLASSIC CONFRONTATION IS HERE

FRANCISCO PAWS AT THE MOUND....AND WAITS FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ALBERT TO BE INTRODUCED AS A PINCH HITTER.....

BUT

FOR SOME REASON....THERE IS NO ANNOUNCEMENT and the result of Tony LaRussa's decision making policies leaves us with a good trivia question in the years to come.

Who made the last out in the 2007 All-Star game when Albert Pujois should have batted?

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY

THE BASEBALL WORLD WAS DENIED

A CLASSIC CONFRONTATION

and the stupidest thing about the entire experience was Tony LaRussa's answer when confronted by the media.

"I WAS SAVING HIM FOR EXTRA INNINGS."

With that comment it became extremely clear to me...that Tony LaRussa thinks everybody that watches baseball is a total freakin idiot.

I'm not going to go into detail about strategies that managers use to try and win a game.... but there is no strategy to save someone for extra innings when there is a chance to win the game in the 9th inning.

EXTRA MEANS EXTRA.......AFTER EVERYTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO TRY AND WIN A GAME IN REGULATION AND NOTHING HAS SUCCEDED,AND THE TWO TEAMS ARE TIED, THEN EXTRA INNINGS BECOME REALITY.

I SIMPLY WANT TO KNOW THE REAL REASON BEHIND THE DECISION

and knowing a little bit about Tony LaRussa and having heard rumors about him....I'm fairly certain that he not only doesn't care what I want to know but he doesn't care WHAT anybody wants to know....when it comes to his making a decision during a baseball game.

I'm sorry.....but Tony LaRussa is a dickhead.

He denied the Baseball world a classic confrontation and that makes him a dickhead and I realize name calling isn't the way to accomplish anything, but since Mr. LaRussa won't come clean and tell us the real reason...then I feel entitled to resort to name calling....and from what I've heard from Baseball people....DICKHEAD might be a very close descriptive term for him.

From one dickhead to another.....thanks alot Tony!

Michael Timothy McAlevey