Jason Major is a contributing writer and resident-Top 7 list-maker over at JoeSportsFan.com. In the past, he's covered the best (or worst) of Tony La Russa's coaching decisions and decided to update after seeing Ryan Ludwick ride the bench last Tuesday in favor of Chris Duncan. His words follow.
Perhaps no other single person in the history of the organization can light such a fire of heated discussion than he can. One on hand, he has taken the team to seven postseason appearances and a World Series title. On the other hand, he sometimes hits So Taguchi third. I can see both sides of this argument, but feel that the extremes on both sides are crazy. Onto the list.
7. Ryan Ludwick on the bench - 2008
This one knocks "Cody McKay, major leaguer" from the list, which is a shame; but it's hard to believe that the National League's leader in slugging percentage at the time could be held out of the lineup for anything other than injury, unavailability, or rest.
6. Pitcher hits 8th -
Back by popular demand, this idea has been back since the latter part of last season, and it still continues. It originally began as a way for Mark McGwire to become a cleanup hitter after his first at-bat, and now the theory stays true for Pujols. This one ranks lower on the list because it really doesn't make much of a difference either way, but it is funny to hear people point out when there are runners on base for the pitcher like it makes it a bad move like there never are runners on for pitchers when they hit 9th.
5. Andy Benes - 1996
The Cards took a 3-1 series lead against the Braves in the 1996, and LaRussa had inexplicably set up his rotation where 18-game winner Andy Benes pitched precisely zero times in the final three games. The Braves won the final three games by a total of 700 runs.
4. Rick Ankiel, pinch runner - 2000
It was a Fox Saturday Baseball game in New York, and the Cards were taking on the Mets. They had a big potential run at third base with less than two outs, and LaRussa sent out Rick Ankiel to pinch run. This one doesn't seem nearly as strange now that we are talking about an everyday center fielder, but as a pitcher, Ankiel tried to score on a sac fly and was thrown out by at least 30 feet. To top it off, after the game LaRussa admitted that he told Ankiel "not to slide under any circumstances." He'll do this with his pitchers randomly pinch hitting and running on other occasions as well.
3. B-team games
It's happened to every Cardinal fan—you buy a ticket to a game, get really excited about it, and then it's one of "those" games. Games where Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Rick Ankiel are sitting, and Gary Bennett is in the two-hole. They could at least warn people about these games at the ticket window or ask the scalpers to give a disclaimer. The worst of this of all-time has to be a game in the early 00s when Larry Sutton was batting third.
2. Jeff Tabaka - 2001
Tabaka is the best example of a countless number of stories regarding mis-used relievers. Taking a 1-0 game into the 8th inning game against the Astros, with a chance to clinch the division in the last weekend of the year and avoid playing the Diamondbacks in the playoffs (who would beat the Cards), LaRussa trots out Jeff Tabaka, who promptly blows the lead by giving up a bomb to Lance Berkman, the only batter he faces. Awesome.
1. Albert Pujols doesn't play in the All-Star Game - 2007
Did you forget about this one? Pujols sat the entire All-Star Game last year, and there wasn't anything wrong with him. He just…didn't play.
7. Ryan Ludwick on the bench - 2008
2. Jeff Tabaka - 2001
