Tony La Russa Explains All-Star Starter Snub of R.A. Dickey
National League All-Star manager Tony La Russa is offering his lame explanation for snubbing R.A. Dickey as the starter of the All-Star game in favor of Matt Cain.
“I’m very aware of the first half he’s had, but the one edge I thought that made sense was having Buster (Posey) catching Cain,” La Russa said at a news conference in Kansas City on Monday.
Posey and Cain are teammates, but I think the All-Star game has a slight history of pitchers throwing to non-teammate catchers.
La Russa said it was a “tough call,” but said he “wanted to reward Matt Cain for his career of excellence.”
Yes, Cain’s “career of excellence” that has seen him pitch to a stunning record of 78-76. Granted, Cain is better than that record (he has a career ERA of 3.29), but still, we’re not talking about a Tom Seaver or a Steve Carlton or a Bob Gibson here, being rewarded with one final All-Star start before heading into the twilight of their careers.
The All-Star game is supposed to highlight the best performing players of the first half. There is no argument that Dickey has had the best first half of any pitcher in baseball. He absolutely, positively deserves the start and this is nothing more than Tony La Russa over-thinking things, trying once again to prove to everyone what a genius he is.
i fully supported dickey starting and think this excuse is stupid, but one other reason i heard was to allow ruiz to warmup with dickey in the pen to get used to the knuckleball. that one’s a bit better, but still, posey IS a pro, and apparently the best at what he does if he’s starting so there’s no reason he should have any additional trouble from what a normal catcher would