How Many Fingers Do You See Now?

Hmmmm.

Much hand-wringing abounds following the news that Cardinal pitcher Josh Hancock was loaded with beer, pot, and cell phone when he chose to play a game of Extreme SUV on some highway in Missouri. I am truly sorry for the loss his family is enduring as he gets rung up for a heavenly Strike Three by John McSherry, the umpire chief in the sky. I am also happy that this tool didn't take an innocent person or two along for his journey into eternity.

So now we get Cardinal management putting the kibosh on clubhouse drinking, which must be killing their team's main sponsor, Budweiser. The team is struggling to cope. It's Darryl Kile all over again.

Boo hoo.

First of all, Darryl Kile died mid-season as a result of a congenital cardio defect. Totally unavoidable. Josh Hancock's death was lamentable, but certainly the control...or actually, lack of it, was all his. So, in my mathematical equation of life, Kile does not equal Hancock. By a country mile.

If Cardinal management wanted to make a statement about alcohol abuse, they should have opened their Midwestern mouths two months ago when their own fearless leader, Tony LaRussa, got arrested for drunk driving. If you go back to the news reports on that incident, all the Cardinal top brass says is "we are looking into it." I guess it's all okay, since all Big Tony did was take a snooze behind the wheel at an intersection. No big whoop, heh? No lives lost. Heck, at the very next spring training game, the idiots in the stands gave this clown a standing ovation.

Sone daring reporter asked LaRussa the other day about Hancock's drinking and connected his own DUI. LaRussa, ever the Rhodes scholar, responded that he was just concerned about Josh's family and his own drinking escapade was "way down on the list."

Well, Stupid, maybe it shouldn't have been. If you and your bosses had any guts, you would have set a better example for your team when it first happened. But, let's face it. Tony LaRussa has never shown any level of courage ever. He must have been sleeping it off all those years where Mark McGwire was conducting his science projects in the clubhouse. I guess with blurred vision you can miss a few thousand pills.

Back in 2004, when the Dodgers played the Cardinals in the NLDS, the Blue Crew managed one win, thanks to a surprising effort from Jose Lima. The place was electric and it staved off certain elimination for at least one day. After the Dodger victory, fans didn't want to leave the ballpark euphoria. As Tony LaRussa was driven in a golf cart to the left field tent where all post game press conferences were held, he had a single message for all the Dodger fans assembled. All the way out to left field, he raised his middle finger to the crowd.

A complete piece of garbage.

I'd hold up a finger right back at you, Tony. But, I'm not sure how many you will see.

Dinner last night: some nifty Mexican pork dish at Border Grill.