From the LA Times’ Tim Brown.
Albert Pujols’ decision to slight Tom Glavine’s pitching performance in Game 1 had legs for another day, with Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa (above) advocating a 24-hour cooling-off period for athletes before they address the media and threatening to advise Pujols to avoid reporters altogether.
According to La Russa, reporters were at fault for Pujols’ assessment of Glavine: “He wasn’t good at all.” The Mets’ left-hander had just shut out the Cardinals over seven innings.
“You want quotes from players, right?” La Russa said, adding, “If a guy burns with the competition and you get him 10 or 15 minutes later, he’s liable to say something that’s not really how he reflects.
“I don’t want to see Albert misrepresented. If this happens a couple times, I’ll tell him, make yourself unavailable.”
His recommended period between the last pitch and the first interview?
“To me,” he said, ” ‘not immediate’ means the next day.”
It’s a very good thing there isn’t any relation between widespread media coverage of La Russa’s trade and the vast sums of money he and his charges earn. Otherwise, this would be, y’know, a completely ridiculous suggestion.
On the other hand, perhaps I’m selling the Genius short. Maybe he has a Will Leitch-style agenda in which beat reporters are considered surplus to modern requirements, and he’d prefer that all games were covered by writers “without access.” The sanctity of the clubhouse could be preserved and the endless series of cliches peddled by La Russa and his peers could be replaced by many column inches about sporting personalities who make themselves accessable.