Baseball Musings: Worst of Friends

May 22, 2006

Worst of Friends

I didn't know Ozzie Smith and Tony La Russa disliked each other so much:

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, after reading a story in Sunday's Post-Dispatch that, in part, reiterated Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith's disinclination to participate in club-related field activities as long as La Russa was manager, said he had changed his mind about inviting Smith to spring-training camp as an instructor.
La Russa, before reading the text, had said he didn't think they would be going to dinner, given their past differences, but that Smith could be helpful if he wanted to join the other Hall of Famers who generally go to Jupiter, Fla., in the spring. Upon further review, there was a stark reversal of field Sunday by La Russa, who was not proffering an olive branch.

"Speaking personally, I don't think he would be good for our ballclub," said La Russa, who sought out the Post-Dispatch before the game. "For him to repeat those comments is really unreasonable. That invitation is no longer there.

"He's not welcome

Wow. Even Yogi Berra made up with George Steinbrenner. St. Louis fans, is it really just about playing time? Most pros realize after they retire that they were at the end of their game and probably deserved to play less. Is this just two big egos clashing?

Posted by David Pinto at 08:09 AM | All-Time Greats | TrackBack (0)

Comments

Ten years ago Royce Clayton was brought on to possibly take over for Ozzie as he was getting back from surgery. Ozzie showed up at spring training and was told that the best person would get the job at the end of training.

Ozzie was the better player, but Royce got the job. It all comes down to that. And now they're pitting the fans against each other to see what will happen. Ozzie is still a god in this town, but as long as LaRussa keeps winning people will overlook this incident.

Posted by: Michael Sweeney at May 22, 2006 10:21 AM

Ozzie has repeatedly said that he will have nothing to do with the Cardinals as long as LaRussa is there.

Posted by: dave at May 22, 2006 10:51 AM

Yes, it is a clash of stubborn guys with big egos.

Posted by: Gene at May 22, 2006 01:20 PM

Ozzie is the main culprit here, though La Russa probably created this problem by declaring that there would be an open competition during spring training between Ozzie and Clayton for the starting SS job.

Ozzie actually had the better spring, but this just points up the oft-repeated mistake of making big regular decision decisions on the basis of 20 or 30 relatively meaningless spring training games -- you know, they call them "exhibitions" for a reason.

For whatever reason, La Russa decided that Clayton was better-suited to regular SS duty, with Smith slotted in to take advantage of match-ups and fresh legs.

Smith felt slighted, which is OK, but it seems entirely childish to be stewing about this 10 years down the road. Ozzie regularly makes his hate for La Russa known in the press, while TLR has, until recently, turned the other cheek and let it go.

Finally, Tony said "enough is enough." Good for him.

The bottom line here is that Ozzie has done more to torpedo his reputation among faithful St. Louis fans than anyone else. He's made himself look small and irrelevant to a good portion of the fan base. If he wants to stay away from those fans who do admire him, because of one individual involved with the team, then he's clearly put himself about the fans and the game. That speaks volumes.

Fact is, nobody really misses him.

He shouldn't be counting too much on

Posted by: Ballpark Dog at May 22, 2006 01:30 PM

Look at the stats for Ozzie's last season. Which one played better? Ozzie. 282/358/370 compared to Claytons 277/321/371. Not a huge difference, but big enough that IMHO he should have gotten more playing time.

But he was getting shoved out the door and shockingly enough, resented it.

He also really really wanted to reach 2500 hits.

Posted by: JeremyR at May 22, 2006 07:03 PM

This also shows how fickle St. Louis sports fans are. They turned on Ozzie really fast, just like they turned on McGwire.

Posted by: JeremyR at May 22, 2006 07:04 PM

Tony makes excuses for McGwire.

Ozzie hates Tony.

Ergo, Josh likes Ozzie.

Posted by: Josh at May 22, 2006 07:19 PM

It is worth repeating. Beyond the stats Smith was the better player, I do not even think LaRussa disagreed at the time it was just his arrogance.

Posted by: matt at May 22, 2006 09:07 PM

Most Cardinal fans I know have had it with Ozzie. People like myself, who loved him growing up. It has nothing to do with fickleness.

And I'm sorry, but putting up Ozzie's (age 38) numbers vs. Claytons is oversimplifying. Why has LaRussa gotten good numbers out of people like John Rodriguez, Hector Luna, John Mabry, Eduardo Perez, Eli Marrero, etc...? He rests the players that need it and he keeps his subs involved, playing them as matchups dictate.

In 1997: 491 ABs for Clayton. 227 ABs for Ozzie, who is a switch hitter and probably was used most often against righties.

Ozzie the previous year batted .199 in limited playing time (156 ABs) due to injury. Year before that, .262 , in 381 ABs.

A definite downward trend there. Going with Clayton was the right bet at the time regardless of the eventual outcome.

Posted by: Chris K at May 23, 2006 01:36 PM

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