Beating a dead horse

It's my blog, so I can keep harping if I want to.

Tony LaRussa became manager of the St. Louis Cardinals the same season, 1996, as Joe Torre took over the New York Yankees.

In the next 12 seasons, Torre's Yanks won four world championships, LaRussa's Cards one. Torre won six pennants, LaRussa one. Torre won 10 division titles, LaRussa seven. LaRussa's teams missed the postseason five times; Torre's never did.

And yet who got a contract extension and who got fired?

Make no mistake -- I believe LaRussa deserved his new deal. Seven division crowns in 12 years represents excellent success.

And yet Torre's 10-for-12, with six pennant and four World Series titles to boot, earned him a pink slip -- couched in a completely insulting one-year offer (see "Of firings foolishly..." below).

The difference, you ask? Glaringly clear.

Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. grew up in baseball. Yankee boss George Steinbrenner grew up in shipbuilding, with a side of college football assistant coaching experience.

DeWitt's father was the longtime general manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Papa Steinbrenner ran American Shipbuilding.

DeWitt is a baseball guy. Steinbrenner only thinks he is.

Torre's six pennants in 12 seasons rank third in Yankees history behind Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy (eight in 16 years) and Casey Stengel (10 in 12 years). Yet Torre was offered only a one-year extension at a 33-percent cut in base salary -- with incentives that would have added up to an 8 percent raise if the Yankees were to win next year's World Series.

I'm sorry -- with a track record like Torre's, that is demeaning.

Bill DeWitt knows that -- he's a baseball guy.

Of firings foolishly accomplished and contemplated


Some U of L content later, but uppermost in my mind right now is how infuriated I am with George Steinbrenner.

A three-year-old with one of those pump-action singing tops can create better spin than Yankees management is churning out over the Joe Torre firing.

And it was a firing -- make no mistake. Yes, they made him an "offer" -- to manage as a lame duck, taking a 33 percent salary cut. All Torre did in the 12 years he managed the club was win four world championships, six American League pennants, and nine consecutive AL East titles -- and never once miss the postseason!! It's hard to imagine how Steinbrenner could have more thoroughly insulted Torre without actually spitting on him.

By contrast, in the previous 12 seasons (1984-95) under a number of managers, the Yankees made the postseason ONCE. Steinbrenner's spending style has been a constant the entire 24 years, and his taste in free agents has not changed. Accordingly, one might reasonably infer Torre's managing has made a significant difference in the Yanks' level of success.

And for this, he is shown the door -- with a shamelessly lame PR ploy laid on to make it appear he was leaving by choice.

Torre stands eighth alltime on the managerial victory list, behind Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and five Hall of Famers. Only Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy managed the Yankees to more wins. Torre has four World Series titles; every other manager with at least three is in the Hall. Not since Casey Stengel was unceremoniously shown the door 47 years ago have the Yankees treated a legend so shabbily.

George, I'm betting you'll live to regret this.

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Now, as promised, on to my beloved Louisville Cardinals.

The spoiled-rotten lunatic fringe of the U of L fan base has been howling for first-year head coach Steve Kragthorpe's head practically since the end of the Cards' 40-34 loss to archrival Kentucky. (Four weeks down the road, that loss to the Wildcats seems far less ugly, especially in light of the Cats' 43-37 takedown of top-ranked LSU last week.) Given the Cards' tantalizing near miss at an undefeated season in 2006, coupled with the return of virtually the entire offense, much of Cardinal Nation was gearing up for a run at the BCS championship this season.

Two factors mitigating against that reared up and derailed the train, though. First, unless it's a promotion from within with only the single change, it takes time for a new coaching staff to mesh into a smooth operation. Second, no one knew how devastating an impact the losses on defense, both players and coaches, would have. The front seven generated no pressure on opposing passers, which allowed teams to feast on Louisville's apparently clueless secondary. The failures appeared schematic as much as performance-related, which called the defensive coaches' ability into question.

Through all that, even with ugly losses to Syracuse and Utah that had the Cards reeling at 2-3, Kragthorpe seems to have righted the ship. Ater UK's defeat of LSU, Cincinnati owned Division I-A's longest active winning streak -- for approximately three hours. Louisville dumped the No. 15 Bearcats 28-24 in Cincinnati -- and the much-maligned defense, while allowing 460 yards, kept UC out of the end zone for all but the first drive of the second half.

With wins over paper tiger Connecticut and woeful Pittsburgh, U of L would become bowl eligible entering its daunting homestretch against West Virginia, South Florida and Rutgers. A victory over any of those three would all but assure Louisville's 10th consecutive bowl appearance.

So cancel the moving van and cease your howling, morons -- the Kragthorpe era is far from over and shows signs it might be well worth watching.