Interviews started today

The first round have interviews have begun today according to Joe and Derrick.

Terry Francona will be interviewed on Friday while there will be some more rounds on Tuesday.

Hall of Fame Golden Era Vets

We found out today who the ten candidates are for consideration with regards to the Golden Era veterans. It's my hope that at least someone from this class gets inducted because when it comes to players, the veterans committee has been getting stingy.

Gil Hodges and Ron Santo are the most notable candidates that have not been inducted yet even though they should have been elected while they were in their first 15 years.

The members of the committee that will, G-d willing, vote in a candidate are two are:

Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda, Juan Marichal, Brooks Robinson, Don Sutton and Williams; Major League executives Paul Beeston, Bill DeWitt, Roland Hemond, Gene Michael, and Al Rosen; and veteran media members Dick Kaegel, Jack O'Connell and Dave Van Dyck.

Those with ties to the St. Louis Cardinals organization include:

Ken Boyer played 15 Major League seasons as a third baseman with the Cardinals, Mets, White Sox and Dodgers. He was named to seven All-Star teams and won the 1964 NL MVP Award while leading the Cardinals to a World Series victory.

Jim Kaat pitched 25 seasons with the Senators, Twins, White Sox, Phillies, Yankees and Cardinals, winning 283 games, the third-highest total for those eligible but not enshrined in the Hall of Fame. He was a three-time All-Star and part of the Cardinals' 1982 World Series championship team.

Minnie Minoso played 17 seasons with the Indians, White Sox, Cardinals and Senators, winning three Gold Glove Awards and being named an All-Star seven times. A native of Cuba, he was one of the first great Latin American players in the 1950s.

Voting takes place on December 4th in Dallas just before the annual meeting is set to take place. Twelve votes are needed for induction. Canidates elected for inducted will be announced the next day.

Interviews to start soon...

Joe Strauss reports that interviews are set to begin soon. The only manager amongst those that managed in the majors last season is Terry Francona.

The committee today holds the first in a series of face-to-face interviews with a pool of "less than 10" candidates including former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona and longtime Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo. The Cardinals also have received permission to interview Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs second baseman and current Philadelphia Phillies minor-league manager Ryne Sandberg.

General manager John Mozeliak on Wednesday confirmed only that the interview process would formally begin today. Mozeliak declined to comment on specific candidates, including Sandberg, whose involvement represents something of a surprise to many due to his ties to the Cardinals' chief rival.

Francona, who steered the Red Sox to the 2004 and 2007 World Series championships, is the only one of six known candidates with prior major-league managerial experience.

Mozeliak plans to also interview Memphis manager Chris Maloney, minor-league instructor and former Gold Glove catcher Mike Matheny and Chicago White Sox coach Joe McEwing, according to sources familiar with the process.

For a bulk of the last 46 years, with rare exception, the Cards have been managed by Red Schoendienst, Whitey Herzog, Joe Torre, and Tony La Russa. All of which are in the Hall of Fame or will be inducted in 2014.

In Albert news, C70 offers some thoughts as to why Albert will stay a Cardinal when all is said and done.

Cardinals reach out to Ryne Sandberg

While the Chicago Cubs have fired manager Mike Quade, they have have made it very clear that they are not interested in hiring Ryne Sandberg. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have expressed an interest in bringing in Sandberg for an interview. Sandberg is one of the few Cubs players that I respected while growing up. You know a Hall of Famer when you see one. When the Cubs originally hired Ryne to manage in the minor leagues, I thought that they would be grooming him for the big league. I guess that was not the case.

Joe Strauss reports that Dave McKay saw Tony's retirement coming.

Rick Hummel reports that Tony La Russa could still manage in the All Star Game next year. Outside of winning the World Series, you could not send him off in a better way. This way, the fans would be able to say goodbye. Bobby Cox had his farewell tour so fans could say goodbye to him. With La Russa, we assumed he would come back.

Albert Pujols issued a statement on Tony's retirement.

"I'd like to congratulate Tony on his amazing Hall of Fame career. He's been like a father to me and in my opinion, is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. I've been blessed to be able to learn from Tony for the past 11 years and I wish him well on his retirement."

I haven't really had a chance to write about what Tony thought about Moneyball but Mike Bauman wrote an article over at MLB.com.

"I think Brad Pitt is a great actor," La Russa said of the actor who played Oakland general manager Billy Beane in the movie. But the thrust of his remarks was not in the direction of praise.

"Good acting," La Russa said in his evaluation of the movie. "I'm serious. Good acting. I mean, I was offended because of what the book represented, and I know a lot of those guys [who] were portrayed. I knew a few of those guys as scouts. It strains the credibility a little bit.

"[The A's] won 20 in a row, [in 2002], qualify for the playoffs, go two [games] up on the Yankees [in the AL Division Series], and there wasn't anything in the movie except a brief about Miguel [Tejada] and Eric [Chavez], the three starters [Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Tim Hudson] and [closer] Billy Koch.

"It was about a couple of trades and turning Scott [Hatteberg] into a first baseman. That club was carried by those guys that were signed [and] developed the old-fashioned way. That part wasn't enjoyable, because it's a nice story, but it is not accurate enough."

Gold Glove Awards

The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards are being presented on ESPN2 and were delayed thanks to a high scoring football game.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals (4th award)
1B: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (1st)
2B: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds (3rd)
3B: Placido Polanco, Philadelphia Phillies (3rd, 1st at 3B)
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies (2nd)
CF: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers (2nd)
LF: Gerardo Parra, Arizona Diamondbacks (1st)
RF: Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers (1st)
P: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (1st)

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles (1st)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox (1st)
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox (2nd)
3B: Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers (3rd)
SS: Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels (1st)
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox (1st)
LF: Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals (1st)
RF: Nick Marakis, Baltimore Orioles (1st)
P: Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox (3rd)

Wild Cards

Wild Cards: The St. Louis Cardinals' Stunning 2011 Championship Season from Rob Rains is due out this week following the Cardinals' World Series win. It is being published by Triumph Books and hits stores on November 2, 2011.

From the press release:

While the 2011 World Series capped arguably the most exciting season in team history, injuries, off-field distractions, and poor play contributed to a lackluster start; by mid-August the Cardinals looked dead in the water. Then, an influx of new talent and rejuvenated stars – along with rally squirrels, happy flights, and an irrepressible never-say-die attitude – propelled St. Louis into the playoffs, where they defeated the favored Phillies and Brewers. The season culminated with a fantastic seven-game, roller-coaster World Series triumph against the Texas Rangers. Wild Cards celebrates the highlights of this championship season. Packed with full-color action photos, detailed accounts of every postseason game, and profiles of Albert Pujols, David Freese, and other stars, this commemorative keepsake is sure to be treasured by every Cardinals fan.

Freese's popularity rising...

David Freese is a rising star. Jaime Garcia is #4 on the list. Via the press release I received:

St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman David Freese hashttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif earned the top spot on Brand Affinity Technologies’ monthly ranking of Rising Sports Stars with an 84 percent popularity gain. Hitting the game-winning home run in Game 6 of the World Series, Freese secured a Cardinals win and forced Game 7 of the World Series in arguably one of the most exciting baseball games in history. Freese continued his great performance into Game 7 with two RBI’s, leading the Cardinals to their 11th World Series championship and earning him the World Series and league championship MVP honors.

In other news, Next Media Animation, the animators over in Taiwan have honored the St. Louis Cardinals.

Buzz Bissinger, author of Three Nights in August, offers his thoughts on Tony La Russa.

Finally, Rob Rains notes what all Mo must do during the offseason.

Tony La Russa announces retirement

After 16 seasons as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa retired following 33 years managing in the big leagues. La Russa retires as one of only two managers to win a World Series in both leagues.

There isn't one [factor] that dominates [my decision]," La Russa said. "They all just come together, telling you your time is over.

"We went through the season, and I felt that this just feels like it's time to end it, and I think it's going to be great for the Cardinals to refresh what's going on here."[...]

For the time being, La Russa does not have a next job in line. He does not expect to return to the organization but indicated that he had some interest in continuing to work in baseball.

Mozeliak acknowledged that he has a preliminary list of people in mind to be the Cardinals' next manager, but he made it clear that he expects that list to change in the coming days. Mozeliak did not rule out any possibility for the next skipper, from internal candidates to managers not currently with a team to coaches or managers with other teams.

As Matt notes, La Russa joined Billy Southworth as the only Cardinal managers with more than one World Series championship.

In 16 seasons with the Cardinals, La Russa won 1,408 games, and led the Cards to 9 postseason appearances, including winning the NL pennant in 2004, 2006, and 2011. La Russa retires with 1,408 wins over all, good enough for second place behind Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). While many of us Cardinals fans thought the skipper would have decided to manage to the point where he would finish second all-time, it was never in La Russa's plans as Matt notes here:

La Russa said that he did not consider continuing in order to get the 36 wins he would have needed and pass McGraw on the all-time list.

"I'm aware of the history of the game," La Russa said. "But I would not be happy with myself if the reason I came back was to move up one spot. That's not why you manage...it's not something that motivates me. Wherever you finish, you finish."

La Russa finishes with the following numbers:
Postseason wins: 70 (2nd)
Games: 5,097 (2nd)
Losses: 2,365 (2nd)
Years: 33 (2nd - tie)
Wins: 2,728 (3rd)
Playoffs: 14 (3rd)
World Series titles: 3 (6th - tie)

You can send a note of thanks to Tony La Russa here.

Quote of the Day

"Hey, why not?"
--Albert Pujols when asked about repeating as World Champs next year, Victory Celebration, October 30, 2011

The Cardinal Way

Derrick covered it in his book but Dan O'Neill had a great article in the P-D on how the "Cardinal Way" is the foundation for this team.

The Cardinal way was pioneered by Branch Rickey, Rogers Hornsby and Frankie Frisch. It's been adopted by Gas House Gangs, Coopers and Deans, "Country" and "Cha-Cha." It is muscular like Joe Medwick, imposing like Bob Gibson, dynamic like Lou Brock and acrobatic like Ozzie Smith.

It has had oracles like George Kissell and Red Schoendienst, keepers like Billy Southworth and Whitey Herzog, deities like Stan Musial and Albert Pujols.

The Cardinal way covers 11 World Series championships and 24 playoff appearances, more ground than any other franchise in the National League covers. During Tony La Russa's 16-year tenure, the Cardinal way has averaged 88 wins and advanced to nine postseasons. In the last eight years, it has included three World Series appearances and two championships. The only franchise with a more illustrious trail is the New York Yankees. The Pinstripe way has led to 27 World Series championships, 47 pennants and 50 playoff appearances. The Pinstripe way has lots to brag about.

The Cardinal way boasts a fraternity of red jackets and Hall of Fame names, congregating at home plate on special occasions, closing ranks around "Baseball's Perfect Knight." The Cardinal way is a code La Russa embraced when he came to St. Louis in 1996. He experienced it as a young player, he espouses it as a Cooperstown-bound skipper. He believes in it.

"There is something to the history and the tradition of the Cardinals that as soon as you sign on you feel," La Russa said. "And those guys remind you. During my first year, they came into spring training and they're there, and you know they're pulling like hell for that year's edition to add something.

"I think it helps year in and year out. I think our guys feel it and they want to live up to it as best they can. So that's what it is here."

Meanwhile, here's Joe Strauss' gamer from Friday night.