One of the biggest baseball stories of this week is the arrest of Tony La Russa on DUI charges. By now, I'm sure you know the story. He was found asleep at the wheel with his foot on the brake at a stoplight. Obviously, that is a very dangerous situation in which La Russa could have injured or killed himself or other drivers.

As a fan of the Cardinals, I'm sort of split on my emotions. I have always been on the fence about La Russa as a manager. His resume and career record shows that he knows what he is doing, yet he makes some very bold and curious decisions at times. Decisions that don't always pan out, causing much scrutiny from the fans. One of my buddies even calls him "La Stupid."

But as a person, La Russa has proved throughout his career that he is a very thoughtful and caring person. He and his wife started the Animal Rescue Foundation and he is very active with that outside of baseball. And never before in his career has he been arrested, until the other day.

Obviously, drinking and driving is a very irresponsible act that unfortunately happens quite regularly. La Russa is very lucky that the consequences of his actions were just an arrest and public scorn, as opposed to something much worse, such as an accident involving other drivers. La Russa knows his mistake and he knows that it was a dumb decision. We've all made dumb decisions in our life, just like La Russa. However, we are not the third-winningest manager in major league history, as well as a two time World Champion, including the manager of the most recent championship club.

Albert Pujols spoke in public support of La Russa in today's St. Louis Post Dispatch. Pujols is known for not drinking, so for him to back his manager, that is an important move for the club to move forward. Pujols is one of the leaders of the team. It lets everyone else know that regardless of the circumstance, Pujols will not let it affect his on-field performance and that it should not let it affect anyone else's performance on the club. As the Cardinals start their title defense, the best thing Pujols could do was say what he did.

Regardless, La Russa will have to live with the legal consequences of his actions, as well as the public ridicule he will get from opposing team's fans, as well as Cardinals fans. Cardinals fans have always been split on their opinion of La Russa, and the La Russa-haters will have even more to talk about now. Sure, this was the first time La Russa has messed up in such a way off of the field, even after 28 years of managing. But the fact of the matter is, something much worse could have happened, and La Russa is a very lucky man that it didn't. The best thing for La Russa and the Cardinals is to get back out on the field and start their title defense.

Best of luck to La Russa as he deals with the legal proceedings and everything else that he will deal with in the near future.

Labels: DUI, La Russa, La Stupid, St. Louis Cardinals