Infantile Cardinals Duck Media After a Tough Loss

Another reason the St. Louis Cardinals have developed the reputation as weak, whiny, spoiled brats.

Albert Pujols was the most notable among the Cardinals that left the clubhouse early after the Texas Rangers scored two runs in the ninth to even the series one game each.

The following is from Joe Straus in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Adding to the night's strange finish was the postgame absence of the team's veteran core. Following a tough loss on the game's biggest stage, Pujols, left fielder Matt Holliday, catcher Yadier Molina and right fielder Lance Berkman left the clubhouse before reporters were admitted. Club officials were aware of at least two players' early departure but had no explanation for the quick exits.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_ec932b34-5acb-52d7-9c7b-6638f69e886f.html#ixzz1bSML0Huj

There is no denying that St. Louis is a good baseball team.  There is no denying that its leader, Tony La Russa is an outstanding manager.

Yet, their totally infantile attitude toward the media and the rest of baseball.

There is a universal dislike among not only the media but among players and coaches around the league.

When things are going well in St. Louis, the Cardinals manager and players are front and center to take credit.    When things are going wrong as it does with every team in baseball at one time or another, they come up with conspiracies, eg. the baseballs are not treated properly and they are given the slick ones.

When Bronson Arroyo was stuffing the Cardinals it must be because he has foreign substance on his cap.  When Kenny Rogers is pitching well against them in the 2006 World Series, he has a foreign substance on his hands.  It turned out to be dirt.  The ribbon boards are not the same brightness when the Cardinals are at bat in Milwaukee.  Most recently La Russa accused umpire Jerry Meals of having a different strike zone for the Cardinals than he had for the Philadelphia Phillies.

When a Cardinal player gets hit by a pitch up and in, it is a dangerous play.  When a Cardinal pitcher hits someone with a similar pitched, naturally it is just one that got away.

St. Louis has a double standard.

Guaranteed the Cardinals as a group are not going to like what is written about them in Friday's papers after they gave up a 1-0 lead.  The moves they made did not work on Thursday night, like they did on Wednesday.  The Cards talked to the media then.  On Wednesday Pujols was available to the media.

On Thursday, he was absent.  He botched a cutoff play that allowed the eventual winning run to move into position that led to a score.

I want to make this clear.  A blotched play, even one that led to the winning run in Game 2 of the World Series, is not the end of the world, much less the series.

Man up Albert.  He is going to want to collect a huge paycheck and his ability and baseball skills are valuable.  But he can not talk to the media only on games in which he performs well.   A real pro faces the music when things don't work out.  That is called being a Pro.