Tony LaRussa Whines About the Cubs

Fresh off losing consecutive heart-breaking games to his division rival, Tony LaRussa has a little bit of whining to do about the baby bears from the north. You see, it's been a few days since LaRussa himself was in the news, so he was probably getting a bit antsy. The on-field play of an exciting series should never overshadow the self-anointed wizard of baseball, after all.

Let us set the scene. Milton Bradley struck out looking on a questionable-at-best call Thursday with the bases loaded. He got thrown out of the game, and has since been slapped with a two-game suspension.

Derrek Lee offered the following opinion on the incident, noting that he "didn't want to say anything bad" about the umpiring, but:

"Wainwright wasn't throwing a lot of strikes in that situation. I think he got the benefit of the doubt when the hitter probably should've been given the benefit of the doubt."

Apparently, Mister Tony didn't like those comments, though I'm not sure how they affect him one way or the other. Regardless, LaRussa doesn't "know how the Cubs get away with comments they make about the umpires." Come again, Tony? Bradley got suspended for two games because the bill of his helmet brushed the umpire's hat. Lee said he thought the hitter should have gotten the benefit of the doubt instead of the pitcher. Is that really a matter of national concern? If Bud Selig was worried about comments of this nature, he'd be handing out fines and suspensions after every single game of the season.

Honestly, though, this isn't a bit surprising. It's the m.o. of LaRussa to constantly inject himself into situations where he doesn't need to be. Even if Lee's comments were worse, in no way did they affect the St. Louis Cardinals.

At least Lou Piniella has a sense of what actually matters. He laughed off the comments and simply said:

"Tony is not the commissioner."

As for LaRussa, he should probably stick to moving the pitcher to the 8-hole or using seven situational relievers when clinging to a 5-run lead. Those things are much more easily in his wheelhouse.