St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa loves tough gritty players. He has a roster loaded with them, with the likes of Ryan Theriot, Lance Berkman, and Skip Schumaker.
And lately La Russa has been displaying his grittiness, managing the Cardinals while battling a nasty case of shingles for the past several weeks.
Finally, with the disease not getting any better, La Russa decided to receive treatment and will sit at home during rest of the Cardinals series against the Chicago Cubs. La Russa will not travel to Cincinnati this weekend either.
"He gutted it out for the games. But before the game every day you come in and ask 'How you doing skipper?' and you're hoping to get a little better answer. But every day he would shake his head and say, 'Not any better, not any better,' " Cardinals bench coach Joe Pettini said.
Pettini will manage the Cardinals in La Russa's absence.
Whether you like La Russa or not, the team will miss his experience and leadership on this crucial road trip.
One positive from the entire situation is that the Cardinals have been a better team on the road. Prior to Wednesday night's game, the Cardinals were 21-15 overall on the season, or six games over .500.
And most of that success has come on the road, as the Cardinals are 11-6 in games away from Busch Stadium. So the team might be able to succeed without their leader.
But they will want him back as soon as possible.
"He'll go on a certain medication to help with the pain, and we're obviously very hopeful to have him join us on Monday when the team returns back to St. Louis," general manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday night.
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And lately La Russa has been displaying his grittiness, managing the Cardinals while battling a nasty case of shingles for the past several weeks.
Finally, with the disease not getting any better, La Russa decided to receive treatment and will sit at home during rest of the Cardinals series against the Chicago Cubs. La Russa will not travel to Cincinnati this weekend either.
"He gutted it out for the games. But before the game every day you come in and ask 'How you doing skipper?' and you're hoping to get a little better answer. But every day he would shake his head and say, 'Not any better, not any better,' " Cardinals bench coach Joe Pettini said.
Pettini will manage the Cardinals in La Russa's absence.
Whether you like La Russa or not, the team will miss his experience and leadership on this crucial road trip.
One positive from the entire situation is that the Cardinals have been a better team on the road. Prior to Wednesday night's game, the Cardinals were 21-15 overall on the season, or six games over .500.
And most of that success has come on the road, as the Cardinals are 11-6 in games away from Busch Stadium. So the team might be able to succeed without their leader.
But they will want him back as soon as possible.
"He'll go on a certain medication to help with the pain, and we're obviously very hopeful to have him join us on Monday when the team returns back to St. Louis," general manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday night.
Sources:
Follow STLSportsMinute on Twitter!
You may also like:
Become a Fan on Facebook!
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