Luvofthegame
10-16-2006, 01:59 PM
By Jim Salisbury
Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist
10/15/06
Maybe it's the number on the back of the uniform. 10.
Larry Bowa wore it when he managed the Phillies. Tony La Russa wears it in St. Louis.
Stop us if you've heard this before. Scott Rolen is having relationship problems with his skipper.
Things in Baseball Heaven aren't as ugly as they were in Philadelphia, when Bowa and Rolen wanted to gouge each other's eyeballs out in 2002.
Still, there's enough tension between Rolen and La Russa that folks are wondering if the two can coexist beyond this season.
Bernie Miklasz, the big-dog columnist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote this yesterday: "It's my belief that the mutual hostility runs a lot deeper than either man is willing to reveal publicly, and I question whether Rolen and La Russa can work together next season."
This got us to thinking. (Insert illuminated lightbulb icon, please.) The Phillies could use a righthanded-hitting third baseman. Would Rolen consider coming back to Philadelphia, where he won a rookie-of-the-year award and at one time was hailed as a franchise savior?
Access to players is difficult before postseason games, but we managed to get a minute of Rolen's time and ask him that question before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series last night.
The look on Rolen's face was an interesting mixture of repulsion and amusement.
"I'm signed for four more years in St. Louis," he said.
But what if the Cardinals came to him and said they had a trade worked out with the Phillies, who now play in a nice ballpark and actually had a better record than the Cardinals in 2006?
"I have a complete no-trade clause," Rolen said.
Would he waive it to come back to Philly?
"Like I said, I'm signed here for four more years," he said.
We had one more question for Rolen.
Is his relationship with La Russa as sour as it appears to be?
"It's not relevant right now," he said. "This is a team game."
As veteran translators of Rolen-speak, we interpret that answer this way: Yes, the relationship is as sour as month-old milk.
What happened in the place that Rolen is credited as dubbing Baseball Heaven?
Well, there's probably a lot more than meets the eye, deep behind-the-scenes stuff that nobody will come clean on. Suffice it to say this is a personality clash between a very controlling manager and a player who, truth be told, is used to getting things his way. As good a player as Rolen is, and as much as he plays the game the way it should be played, he's high maintenance. Just ask the folks who used to try to make him happy in Philadelphia.
Most recently, Rolen has had his nose out of joint over playing time. He experienced weakness and fatigue in his surgically repaired left shoulder in the final weeks of the regular season and in the postseason, and La Russa seems to have shown impatience with that.
La Russa sat Rolen in a key game against Houston on Sept. 21. La Russa said he did it for health reasons. Rolen took it as a benching.
Rolen sat in Game 4 of the division series last weekend and did not start Game 2 of the NL championship series Friday night. La Russa said both decisions were made for health reasons, that he didn't feel like Rolen's swing was up to par.
On Friday night, Rolen was irked that he found out he wasn't playing by reading the lineup card. La Russa said he didn't bother telling Rolen personally because Rolen didn't respond well to a conversation they had when La Russa held the player out Sept. 21.
La Russa made the right call in sitting Rolen on Friday night. He had not swung the bat well against Tom Glavine the night before. His replacement, Scott Spiezio, tied the game with a two-run triple in the seventh inning and finished with three RBIs in a 9-6 win.
The Cards won again last night to go up two games to one. If the Cardinals win the series, they will look back on Spiezio's triple in Game 2 as the key hit of the series and La Russa's decision to start him as the key move. Spiezio produced and, as La Russa said yesterday, "You're supposed to produce when you play."
That sounded like a criticism of Rolen, who hit just .227 in September and was 1 for 11 in the division series. Two years ago, he went 0 for 15 in the World Series.
La Russa stayed with Spiezio last night, though he moved him to left field. Rolen was back in the lineup, playing third and hitting sixth.
"He's just got to find his stroke," La Russa said of Rolen. "He's an outstanding player, and you always give an outstanding player the benefit of the doubt."
As for their strained relationship, La Russa dismisses it as a media creation.
Please. This is no mirage. There's real strife between Scott Rolen and the guy with the No. 10 on his back. We've seen it before, only with more eyeball gouging.
Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist
10/15/06
Maybe it's the number on the back of the uniform. 10.
Larry Bowa wore it when he managed the Phillies. Tony La Russa wears it in St. Louis.
Stop us if you've heard this before. Scott Rolen is having relationship problems with his skipper.
Things in Baseball Heaven aren't as ugly as they were in Philadelphia, when Bowa and Rolen wanted to gouge each other's eyeballs out in 2002.
Still, there's enough tension between Rolen and La Russa that folks are wondering if the two can coexist beyond this season.
Bernie Miklasz, the big-dog columnist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote this yesterday: "It's my belief that the mutual hostility runs a lot deeper than either man is willing to reveal publicly, and I question whether Rolen and La Russa can work together next season."
This got us to thinking. (Insert illuminated lightbulb icon, please.) The Phillies could use a righthanded-hitting third baseman. Would Rolen consider coming back to Philadelphia, where he won a rookie-of-the-year award and at one time was hailed as a franchise savior?
Access to players is difficult before postseason games, but we managed to get a minute of Rolen's time and ask him that question before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series last night.
The look on Rolen's face was an interesting mixture of repulsion and amusement.
"I'm signed for four more years in St. Louis," he said.
But what if the Cardinals came to him and said they had a trade worked out with the Phillies, who now play in a nice ballpark and actually had a better record than the Cardinals in 2006?
"I have a complete no-trade clause," Rolen said.
Would he waive it to come back to Philly?
"Like I said, I'm signed here for four more years," he said.
We had one more question for Rolen.
Is his relationship with La Russa as sour as it appears to be?
"It's not relevant right now," he said. "This is a team game."
As veteran translators of Rolen-speak, we interpret that answer this way: Yes, the relationship is as sour as month-old milk.
What happened in the place that Rolen is credited as dubbing Baseball Heaven?
Well, there's probably a lot more than meets the eye, deep behind-the-scenes stuff that nobody will come clean on. Suffice it to say this is a personality clash between a very controlling manager and a player who, truth be told, is used to getting things his way. As good a player as Rolen is, and as much as he plays the game the way it should be played, he's high maintenance. Just ask the folks who used to try to make him happy in Philadelphia.
Most recently, Rolen has had his nose out of joint over playing time. He experienced weakness and fatigue in his surgically repaired left shoulder in the final weeks of the regular season and in the postseason, and La Russa seems to have shown impatience with that.
La Russa sat Rolen in a key game against Houston on Sept. 21. La Russa said he did it for health reasons. Rolen took it as a benching.
Rolen sat in Game 4 of the division series last weekend and did not start Game 2 of the NL championship series Friday night. La Russa said both decisions were made for health reasons, that he didn't feel like Rolen's swing was up to par.
On Friday night, Rolen was irked that he found out he wasn't playing by reading the lineup card. La Russa said he didn't bother telling Rolen personally because Rolen didn't respond well to a conversation they had when La Russa held the player out Sept. 21.
La Russa made the right call in sitting Rolen on Friday night. He had not swung the bat well against Tom Glavine the night before. His replacement, Scott Spiezio, tied the game with a two-run triple in the seventh inning and finished with three RBIs in a 9-6 win.
The Cards won again last night to go up two games to one. If the Cardinals win the series, they will look back on Spiezio's triple in Game 2 as the key hit of the series and La Russa's decision to start him as the key move. Spiezio produced and, as La Russa said yesterday, "You're supposed to produce when you play."
That sounded like a criticism of Rolen, who hit just .227 in September and was 1 for 11 in the division series. Two years ago, he went 0 for 15 in the World Series.
La Russa stayed with Spiezio last night, though he moved him to left field. Rolen was back in the lineup, playing third and hitting sixth.
"He's just got to find his stroke," La Russa said of Rolen. "He's an outstanding player, and you always give an outstanding player the benefit of the doubt."
As for their strained relationship, La Russa dismisses it as a media creation.
Please. This is no mirage. There's real strife between Scott Rolen and the guy with the No. 10 on his back. We've seen it before, only with more eyeball gouging.