Cleaning the Cardinals Clubhouse
Kudos to the Cardinals for swiftly dismissing Scott Spiezio.
Owner Bill DeWitt, GM John Mozeliak and the organization made a strong statement about establishing standards for personal conduct.
Mozeliak, in particular, stood up in a strong way that reaffirmed that there’s a new GM in charge, and he won’t be weak.
Human beings make mistakes, and are entitled to second chances as long as they’re genuine about growing from the experience in a way that makes them a better person. Tony La Russa and his DUI in Florida last spring is an example of what I’m talking about. La Russa was ashamed by what he did, and I’d be absolutely shocked if TLR ever put himself in that irresponsible position again. He learned from his poor judgment.
But Spiezio was given many chances by the Cardinals. He was signed off the street when no one wanted him after the 2005 season. As we found out later, he was given an opportunity to get his act together early in the 2007 season, when rumors of his use of alcohol and substances began to surface. The team backed him again when he went into a rehab facility last season. They supported him again, and with a warm embrace, when he checked out of rehab and returned to the uniform. And they were behind Spiezio again by bringing him back for 2008.
At some point, he had to return that loyalty. He had to prove that he was trustworthy and reliable and honest and clean. And Spiezio failed miserably on all counts. For this knucklehead to essentially conceal the nature and magnitude of the wild spree that allegedly occured on the night of Dec. 30 in Irvine, Calif. was simply unacceptable, and unforgivable.
And this is especially true in the aftermath of Josh Hancock killing himself by driving drunk last April.
There was another reason to send Spiezio away: as I have written and said before, this team had a party culture in 2007. And it’s time for the Cardinals to declare last call and insist that their players act like professionals, and responsible citizens, and respect the game and the community in which they play.
This organization is putting a premium on developing young players. Some, like Brendan Ryan, made it to the majors last season. Another, top prospect Colby Rasmus, is close. More are on the way. The worst thing the Cardinals can do is have an out-of-control clubhouse culture to set a bad example for the newbies, who might get the idea that it’s OK to party all night, get little sleep, take risks and show up at the ballpark with red eyes and hazy minds and mysterious bumps on the head. There’s nothing wrong with having a good time, as long as it stays responsible (call a cab!), doesn’t spill out of bounds and doesn’t affect job performance.
If the Cardinals allow the party culture to exist and thrive, some of these young, on-the-way Cardinals will lose themselves at the big-league level. Handling a major-league lifestyle isn’t easy for some, anyway. Having bad influences in the clubhouse can only make the transition, the graduation to the bigs, more challenging.
Spiezio is gone, but I hope DeWitt, Mozeliak and La Russa continue to stay on top of the clubhouse culture and keep these higher standards in place.
Thanks for reading…
-B
In an interview earlier this month Spiezio said that the death of Josh Hancock really affected him last year went he went into his tailspin…. How can you take anything he said now as a smidgen of truth. I may be 18 and nieve but what kind of person can flat out lie to an entire organization and to all of it’s fans. St. Louis has a forgiving fan base (i.e. Leonard Little and TLR) but rest assured we don’t forget. This is a pretty disgusting event from a guy that truly seemed like a changed individual.
Good Call on the example setting, we don’t need another generation of players like Spiezio.
I’m sorry, Bernie, but TLR hasn’t learned his lesson. I blame LaRussa for a lot of the bad press the Cardinals have received, and am incredibly disappointed in DeWitt and Lamping for keeping him as the manager for the next year. He has no problem acting like he isn’t accountable to anyone (the last time I checked, he’s not the owner), he encourages substance abuse and the use of performance enhancing drugs, ignores the consequences of such irresponsible acts such as drinking and driving, and doesn’t care one iota for the fans or the city of St. Louis.
You can’t blame what Spiezio did on LaRussa, but if the front office and TLR had handled his summer rehabilitation a bit better, this may not have happened. Too bad that LaRussa was too busy ruining his reputation through the Scott Rolen debacle to notice at the time that he had a mentally ill player on his squad. We’ll suffer through the ‘08 season, and then he will be gone and we won’t have to complain about how insufferable he is.
Not to be too critical of the player, but Spezio’s line wasn’t that impressive. Last year he batted .269 off the bench, he isn’t a stellar defender, and he doesn’t have speed. Looking at the influx of infielders in camp, his stats can be replaced. He may have been a “locker room” leader, and he had playoff experience, but do you really want someone of his character rubbing off on your youth?
I hope he can turn his life around, now that he has more than enough time to seek treatment. Maybe the real reason behind his alcoholism can be discovered.
Scott, good luck. Cards good job, by doing what was right for the club and player.
This team and current group is an embarrassment to the Cardinal name. From LaRussa burying his head in the sand regarding PEDs, the Scott Rolen debacle, signing every cheater they can get their hands on, to the Hancock tragedy and it’s aftermath. I won’t be spending any of my money on the Cardinals this year. Have some pride in the organization for goodness sakes! I feel sorry for Pujols and the other truly good guys in the organization that they have to live with this crap.
[...] Similar News:Hartford Courant: Spiezio Charged In Crash, Released By CardinalsSt. Louis Post-Dispatch: Cleaning the Cardinals Clubhouse [...]
Jarmo_fan, you have done a wonderful job of quoting Kevin Slaten. Now, come up with your OWN opinion, instead of listening to someone else’s and repeating it as your own. Is LaRussa supposed to babysit these guys even in the offseason? These players are his family. Spiezio had issues, TLR embraced him and supported him in rehab. Spiezio then proved himself unworthy of his trust and loyalty. If your son or daughter had similar issues, would you not reach out to him/her? Spiezio crossed the line and he has to suffer the consequences. It is his fault and his fault alone, not TLR’s. Tony is paid to win baseball games, period. He’s paid to field 25 guys who give him the best chance to win, and he’s done that more than evvery manager in the history of the game, except for two. I’m a Cards fan and I want winning baseball. I don’t need a team full of choir boys, I want a winning baseball team.
kmrupp, I was preaching this stuff long before Slaten ever got ahold of it, but I appreciate the ignorant slam nonetheless. For what it is worth, I agree with Slaten and so do several others I work with, which we heavily discuss because local sports is such a common interest for us. That is my own opinion, if you differ with me, you have a right to be wrong, and in this case you are very, very wrong.
Now as for the rest of your post. Obviously ‘rehab’ is not the word to use for whatever Spiezio went through last summer, so I’m not sure if you can say that TLR supported him through that. More importantly, TLR probably didn’t even know what was really going on and didn’t care to do more to investigate. The process was mainly ignored and rushed.
I don’t have a son or daughter, but why are you even asking such a question? I’m not managing a major league club, and Tony’s relationship with Spiezio is not exactly father-son. I already posted that you can’t blame TLR for what happened with Spiezio, so that whole line of argument can be thrown out because you already agree with me. Totally pointless to call me out on that one, but I hope your venting at least made you feel better.
Tony is statistically a great manager by the numbers, you are definitely correct on that one, but this whole era that he has managed in is about to get a huge asterisk put next to it, and his record especially due to his knowledge of p.e.d. use and no attempt to stop it. In fact, he seems to prefer players who violate substance abuse policies. All of baseball is in a terrible dilemma with this, and TLR is a champion of the wrong side of the debate. Drug use will either be stopped, or the game of MLB will die. Fans will not continue to put up with this, especially in this town. My dollars are much better spent on the Gateway Grizzlies.
Finally, we are mostly all Cardinals fans here and we all want winning baseball, but we don’t want winning at the cost of ruining the reputation of our franchise and the game itself. You don’t have to be a choir boy to play by the rules of the game. One more point, I have never liked the man. I hate his arrogance and disassociation with this city, and cannot wait to see the return of the glorious ‘Cardinal baseball’ franchise I remember from before the TLR days. Six trips to the post-season, five trips to the NLCS, two pennants and… finally… a world title. I would have fired him long ago, hopefully DeWitt and Lamping will see the light and remove this cancer from my beloved Cardinals clubhouse.
MIsinformed, misinformed. I KNOW for a fact that Tony treated Spiezio, as he does all his players as family. (Don’t everyone start bringing up Rolen now, either. Rolen pulled this same act in Philadelphia.) I KOW for a fact that TLR knew exactly what was going on with Spiezio last year and supported him. I have a relative who manages in the Birds minor league system, and the entire organization was aware of what was going on and behind Scott, so (and I’ll use your words here) “you have a right to be wrong”. I can see why you hate TLR though, because as fans of the Cardinals, we have had such terrible baseball since he arrived. This “cancer” has won more games over his Cardinal career than any other Cardinals manager. I’m going to relay a quote from my relative who manages in the minors. I asked him why so many people hate TLR and he said, ” The more you know about baseball, the more you appreciate Tony, the less you know, the more you hate him”. Jarmo_fan, my friend you are in the latter category.
I agree with Jarmo_fan completely. Alot of cracks in TLR armor. He is a decent game time manager …knows baseball….but personality wise…he is egomaniac…has alot of run ins..now with the media as well as players…just a matter of time until its deWitt. Pastaman372
Pastaman372- Are you Slaten?
it’s been a bad couple of years in st. louis and the natives are restless.
no, kmrupp, I am not Slaten. I am afraid TLR time in St Louis has come and gone. He will be lucky to make it 2 years and if he does he wont be around when the Cardinals win again which isnt this year. Pastaman372
I’m not as impressed by the Cards’ “strong statement.” They did the right thing in letting Spiezio go, but they were hardly sticking their necks out. He lied to them (maybe repeatedly), his rehab doesn’t appear to have worked at all, he’s got himself in serious trouble. Given his situation and his limited role, I have to think any organization would have done the same.
Not impressed, either, with the implication that the Cards did Spiezio a favor by signing him for the 2006 season. They thought he could help the team, and he certainly did. I hate to think where they would have been without some of his huge clutch hits; we might be remembering the 2006 team as one of the all-time chokes instead of World Series champs.
Maybe the strong statement refers to them paying his 2008 salary so they could dump him immediately? OK, fair point.
I wish Scott well. He needs help. He needs to help himself. He owes it to his kids, too.
[...] a tall order - Cards show concern for veteran and how to replace him By Matthew Leach / MLB.com Cleaning the Cardinal Clubhouse By Bernie Miklasz / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Teammates back Cardinals’ decision to release Spiezio By Joe Strauss / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH [...]
From Strauss’ story: “The Cardinals…assumed the remaining $2.4 million on his contract…”
Whoa. Am I reading this right?
Bernie, I know he wasn’t convicted of anything yet, but does the standard player’s contract not allow the team to get out of paying him in these circumstances? If not, this particular contract item seems hugely players’ oriented. Don Fehr’s handiwork again?
He’s going to get his money, even if he doesn’t sign with someone else this year and does nothing?
What a deal.
Really a shame. The guy was such a hero around here after the WS.
Hard to put the blame on LaRussa, however. (I dislike him for other reasons, like his man-love for any player that uses steroids) Spiezio is a grown up, an adult, capable of making his own decisions. And if Hancock killing himself while drunk isn’t a wake up call for this guy, then what would be?? (A stern “talking to” by LaRussa?)
It was HIS CHOICE to get loaded and drive, and then assault his neighbor…and he now has felony charges and a pink slip to show for it. The Cardinals did the right thing in letting him go, and can’t be blamed for this sad saga…
I am a Country Day grad from around 1970, like the owner of the cards are. What erks me and other CDS grads is how money hungry they are and have forgotten the family of 4 who go to games and leave broke.
It cracks me up that they are willing to give Spiezio 2.5 million this year after they fired him, and rightfully so. Either they messed up with their contract with him or they have loss touch with Cardinal nation.
Even tho I can easily afford tickets i won’t buy one unless a corporation invites me– which is what the fan base has become, a corporate sponsored fan.
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