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.

Postseason Award Predictions

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Rookie of the Year: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
Most Valuable Player: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cy Young Award: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
Most Valuable Player: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
Cy Young Award: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

It's interesting to note that Kershaw and Verlander both led their leagues in Wins, Strikeouts, and ERA. It's the first time since 1924 that two pitchers have won the Triple Crown in their league respectively.

Game 6: An Instant Classic

David Freese saved the St. Louis Cardinals twice tonight. In the bottom of the 9th inning, he tripled to bring in Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman.

In the 11th, he scores the game-winning walk-off home run to win the game for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Freese joins postseason lore with Kirk Gibson, Carlton Fisk, and Joe Carter with a walk-off home run to end the game. Not only that but he joins Jim Edmonds and Ozzie Smith has the only Cardinals to win a postseason game with a walk-off home run. Ozzie with his Game 5 win of the 1985 NLCS. Edmonds did so in extra innings in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS.

This is an unbelievable season. Down 10.5 at the end of August, the Cards were thought to be out of the postseason. Nope. Atlanta started losing while the Cardinals started winning.

Like in 2006, I did not get any sleep.

Big 12 Takes West Virginia

Louisville fans will just have to wait.
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According to CBS Sports:

West Virginia has been invited to join the Big 12 Conference, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com Friday.

The Mountaineers will accept the invitation, sources said. The Big 12 is expected to officially announce the invitation later today.

The Big 12's board of directors voted Friday morning and chose West Virginia over Louisville. They will stay at 10 schools, a source said.

Millarworld in the News

Mark Millar has been in the news a lot recently with several developments.

Wanted 2 is being written at the moment. At the moment, I don't know how it can be done with Angelina Jolie's character having been killed. Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, who adapted the original script, were just hired to write the sequel.

Meanwhile, news surrounding a new Millarworld project is being developed by none other than Matthew Vaughn.

Matthew Vaughn hasn’t yet picked a project to direct after the critical and financial success of X-Men: First Class, but a picture is forming as to what his options could be, and they all involve comic book writer Mark Millar.

Vaughn, Millar and artist Dave Gibbons (best known for as the co-creator of The Watchmen) unveiled this week a new comic titled The Secret Service. While plot details are under wraps, Vaughn not only co-created the concept but holds the movie rights.[...]

Vaughn also has the movie rights to Superior, a comic Millar is writing with Leinil Francis Yu doing the art. The plot revolves around a superhero and comic book-idolizing boy afflicted with multiple sclerosis who is given the chance to become a superhero named Superior. The chance, of course, comes with a heavy cost.

THR notes that no writers have been attached to either project but speculation is that Vaughn will co-write with Jane Goldman.

Both projects are in the early stages, with no screenwriters attached. Vaughn is likely to tackle the script for Secret Service himself, possibly with frequent collaborator Jane Goldman, just as he did with Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. For Superior, he will supervise the writing, according to sources.

A fourth Millarworld project was announced with Universal picking up rights to War Heroes.

Universal is in negotiations to pick up War Heroes, the project based on the Mark Millar-Tony Harris comic book. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, who are writing Doctor Strange for Marvel, are in negotiations to write the script.

Michael De Luca, Chris Morgan and Trigger Street’s Dana Brunetti are attached to produce.[...]

The story centers on a U.S. military experimental program developed in light of dwindling enlistments and the expanding war on terrorism that gives ordinary soldiers superpowers. When a rogue group of the super-soldiers breaks off to form a criminal enterprise, one hero rises from their ranks to prevent catastrophic results.

Could it be true?!?

I hope that this tidbit actually happens!

Could the The Beatles' last film, Let It Be, finally be headed to DVD? Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg says, "We have been working on it pretty much every year for the last couple of years. And the plan is, at the moment, to have it come out, I think, in 2013. This is after they release Magical Mystery Tour as a special DVD release. And it'll be the film itself, the original film -- the color is great, the soundtrack is perfect."

Lindsay-Hogg adds that it will include a bonus DVD, which is a making-of documentary featuring outtakes from the film.

St. Louis wins National League Pennant

That's a winner! 2011 World Series, here we come! Go Cards! It's time to mess with Texas!

Rand Paul keeps spamming me

Rand Paul's senate office keeps spamming me with his newsletter despite unsubscribing EVERY FUCKING TIME that I get them.

Make it fucking stop this fucking minute!

Quote of the Day

"We are here to talk about re-elections, but if we can sign Albert Pujols for four more years, that would be good, too.”
--Missouri Governor Jay Nixon speaking downtown in St. Louis at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama during the Cardinals game, October, 2011

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