Terry Francona

Safe to say win No. 1,001 in the managerial career of Terry Francona came a little easier than No. 1,000.

The Red Sox pounded the hapless, woeful and woebegone Mariners for 17 hits and 12 runs in a 12-8 triumph Sunday at Fenway that — as they say — wasn’t really that close.

But the day before the Red Sox skipper had to sweat out a 3-1 nail biter for his grand entrance into an exclusive MLB managerial club.

So how did he celebrate after getting doused with the beer from David Ortiz? Steak, champagne? Not quite.

“I had a grilled cheese sandwich,” Francona joked Sunday. “I always have a grilled cheese sandwich.”

But what Francona really appreciated wasn’t the food or beverage but the roasting and toasting via messages of all types he received from family and friends throughout baseball.

“The prevailing thought seems to be that people are surprised I’m still here,” Francona said. “I got that more than anything. I got some nice messages from people that mean a lot to me so that was nice. That actually made me feel better than anything.

“I think it’s pretty obvious. I was honored and I was proud but I’m a lot more comfortable talking about our guys and our team. I just think that’s the way it should be. I did feel good.”

One thing Francona made pretty clear is that – despite being with a great organization that wins year in and year out — he doesn’t see challenging the likes of Tony La Russa, who leads all active managers with 2,691 wins.

“You have to remember, it’s a round number but then you start looking at some of those other guys, you need to hush up because there are some guys with some pretty big numbers that are still managing,” Francona said. “So, it’s actually kind of humbling a little bit. It makes you realize how long they’ve been doing it and how hard it is to win.

“How many wins does Tony La Russa have? I would be willing to bet that if you see my name with [2,691], there’ll be an asterisk. I’ll be dead. That’ll be quite an accomplishment.”

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who managed Mark McGwire for most of the slugger’s career and remained adamant over the years that the former single-season record holder for homers had not used steroids, spoke with ESPN’s Baseball Tonight on Monday about his former player’s admission that he had used steroids throughout his career. Courtesy of ESPN, here are some excerpts of the interview.

LaRussa, on his reaction to today’s news:

“I didn’t know anything except that I knew we ran a legit program and that Mark was a good example of working his butt off and getting his strength gains as a product of hard work. I did, and still speak to his character and integrity.”

LaRussa, on his current perspective regarding McGwire as a hitting instructor and his integrity:

“I think, as the entire circumstances come out of his usage – why, when, where – I think he’ll come off and regain a lot of stature that he had with fans and with his peers about being a solid pro…he admits he made mistakes and he’s sorry for it. We all make mistakes and at least he owns up to it.

“He got so much criticism about his performance in (front of) Congress. One thing he did not do is lie, and I don’t think he ever would.”

INDIANAPOLIS –St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was the beneficiary of Matt Holliday’s excellence for the second half of last year, after the Cards acquired him from the A’s for three prospects. Holliday had struggled in Oakland, at least at the start of the year, and had amassed just a .286/.378/.454/.831 line with the A’s. He then proceeded to destroy the baseball as a member of the Cardinals, hitting .353/.419/.604/1.023 with 13 homers in 270 plate appearances.

As a result of those disparate lines, and Holliday’s immense success as a member of the Rockies before his four months in the A.L., there have been some mutterings that Holliday is a player better suited for the National League than the American League, and that he is vulnerable to the type of power pitching that is more prominent in the junior circuit.

LaRussa was presented with that hypothesis. He did not agree with it.

“I wish I could get away with being dishonest and say that’s true so that we could cut any American League teams out of this,” LaRussa mused. “But no, there are no restrictions to his game. I would not agree with that. Based on their All-Star and World Series success, there’s probably a little arrogance right now on the American League side. We need to start winning some games.”

Conversations with talent evaluators for three different American League teams revealed similar conclusions. They agreed that Holliday’s swing was out of whack at the start of his time in Oakland, resulting in a terrible start: a .244 average, .314 OBP, .394 slugging mark and .708 OPS through May 16. From there, however, Holliday rebounded, hitting .311/.412/.489/.900 over his final two months with the A’s.

As such, he remains far and away the best alternative to Jason Bay for the Sox. That does not mean that he is a better player — he might be a slightly better bet for an extra year because he is younger, but offensively and defensively, the two are evaluated as being very, very similar players.

One relevant difference in the markets for the two players, however, may be the pace at which they seek deals. Holliday, represented by agent Scott Boras, could follow a common pattern of Boras clients in taking a very deliberate appraoch to the market. That, in turn, could leave clubs antsy — including a Cardinals team that would very much like to retain Holliday.

“We refuse to believe that we’re not a real attractive ballclub for Matt, his experience with us for a couple months being a big plus for us,” said LaRussa. “The timing is a critical part. … I don’t know how patient we could be.”

Garza had a tidy second inning: seven pitches, seven fastballs, three outs. THAT is a more typical approach of a pitcher on short rest. 

Tony LaRussa once undertook an even bolder experiment in 1993. His team was terrible, and so LaRussa thought that he would use his A’s pitching staff as lab rats. He had his pitchers work on two days of rest, and would have “groups” of three pitchers assigned to each contest, much as managers do during spring training. He limited his pitchers’ pitch counts severely–to something like 50 or 60 pitches a game, he recalled a couple years ago–and the result was that his pitchers threw strike after strike. Of course, that didn’t help the cause of that particularly abysmal team. The A’s went 1-6. 

Anyhoo, if you’re more interested in pitchers on three-days’ rest than a game for American League East supremacy, feel free to peruse this missive. As you do so think of the iconic “Old Hoss” Radbourn, whose time with the Providence Grays probably should have a larger place in local lore. 

Interestingly, I had always been under the impression that Radbourn’s arm was too tired to lift a comb during the season… but judging by the picture here, that shortcoming had relatively little impact.