The Scum on Kenny's Thumb

MORE:

So let us consider for a moment why it is that La Russa played down the Scum on Kenny's Thumb.

Maybe La Russa doesn't want to win his first Cardinals World Series that way. Maybe this means so much to him that he doesn't want to play technical games to reap baseball's greatest reward. Maybe he knows, just like the umpires, that whatever Kenny Rogers is doing out there, a clump of mush on the base of his thumb isn't the reason he dazzled and confused the Cardinals all night long.

Maybe you haven't noticed, but I have. The Cardinals have proved to me with every step along this improbable ride into the World Series that they not only belong here, but are capable of winning The Ring without the benefit of a rules technicality.

Could La Russa have pressed the issue? Sure he could have. But why should he? That's not the way he plays the game. That's not the way his players play the game, either. They have their World Series destiny firmly in their own hands right now, and with the next three games at home, and Carpenter, Suppan and possibly Reyes ready to go to the mound this week, why cheapen the thrill of a potential world championship by eliminating the opposition's best weapon on a technicality?

If the Cardinals are going to win this World Series, and La Russa has decided that the only way to do it is by winning it on the field, not in some rule book, then I say good for him, and maybe you should, too.

Did you know La Russa is an attorney?

Here's more:

(La Russa) insists he would never put a friendship ahead of his team. “This isn’t about friends,” La Russa said. “This is about Tigers and Cardinals. If somebody would accuse me of that, I would get very upset and confrontational.”

So why did he go easy in Rogers? La Russa fleshed out his decision -– and made lots of sense doing so.


* Pitchers routinely use sticky substances to improve their grip. ...

* La Russa believes, to a degree, in the adage that you aren’t competing if you’re not cheating. “There’s a line that defines competition,” he said. “You can sneak over the line because we all go for an edge. When you go far, it’s abuse.”

* The Skipper insists that when he sees abuse on the other side, he takes measures to protect his team. “Part of the competition is that some people will try to take advantage of you,” he said.

And La Russa won’t stand for that. “If somebody spanks you, we spank back,” he said. “That’s part of the competition.”

* He prefers not to take extreme action -– demanding the confiscation of a bat or a pat-down of the pitcher -– unless he is retaliating. ...

* He understood that some Cardinals may not agree with his diplomatic approach to the Rogers Affair, but he believes it is his responsibility to handle the matter as he sees fit.

“It is possible there are guys that disagree,” La Russa said. “That’s not the way I want to win.” ...