Anyone who tuned into the Midsummer Classic last night saw a lot of exciting things, such as Ichiro’s inside the park home run (first ever in ASG history), Ken Griffey’s laser to throw out A-Rod at the plate, and a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth.
What you wouldn’t have seen, however, is any sign of Albert Pujols because his manager, Tony La Russa, left his ass on the bench the entire game. La Russa tried to explain afterwards that in case of extra innings, he wanted to have the versatile Pujols to come off the bench, but his first basemen wasn’t having it.
“If I wasn’t expecting myself to play, I wouldn’t come up here,” he said. “Believe me, if I couldn’t play, I wouldn’t show up here. I’d rather stay home with my family. But that’s the way it is.”
I get how La Russa would want to have Pujols come off the bench if the game went extra innings, but the contest was 5-4 with two outs left in the ninth and the NL was the home team – so go for the win Tony. Not to take anything away from Aaron Rowand, but we’re talking about Albert Pujols, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and he’s completely fresh. You take your shot in the ninth because at that point, there is no extra innings. Pujols has ever right to be pissed.
