Good day. Drive safely in the wetness out there. Remember to DVR Missouri at Oklahoma State, and St. Louis U. at Xavier ... our remarks will be rather brief today ...

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* After winning the World Series for the third time, Tony La Russa retired as Cardinals' manager to cap a brilliant 35-season career in the dugout. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has asked La Russa to manage the National League squad in the 2012 All-Star Game. It was a classy and appropriate invitation by Selig. And TLR quickly accepted. La Russa is one of the greatest managers in MLB history, and his retirement came suddenly and rather unexpectedly. There was no "Farewell Tour," no send-off. The All-Star Game will at least give La Russa a chance to take a bow. Fans and baseball people will get a chance, if ever so briefly, to formally salute La Russa's career. And that's good.

La Russa, 67, has insisted that he's finished managing. He'll put on the uniform and run the NL in the All-Star Game, and that will be it. La Russa has said he wants to continue to work in baseball, but not as a manager. I'd like to believe that, but I have seen this movie too many times. One of La Russa's mentors, Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, came out of retirement. That's just one baseball example. In the NFL we've seen Vince Lombardi, Bill Parcells, Dick Vermeil, Joe Gibbs (among others) all return to coaching after growing restless in retirement. It's happened a bunch of times in the NBA, with Don Nelson, Larry Brown, Hubie Brown and Phil Jackson on the list.

I wouldn't be shocked by a La Russa comeback at some point. He's young for his age. He has a lot of energy. He loves the game. He thrives on competition. The forces that would pull La Russa back into managing will be powerful. He may be able to resist. Others have. Heck, when Whitey Herzog decided he'd had enough as manager of the Cardinals in the summer of 1990, he was only 58. Everyone assumed Herzog would return to managing. He was a Hall of Fame manager with youth on his side. But Herzog never took another managing job. He resisted the overtures.

I think being in the All-Star Game and back on center  stage will stir La Russa's competitiveness and remind him of why he loves managing, why he stayed in the job during a career that spanned five decades. Perhaps La Russa will be able to fight off the temptation to return to managing. But suppose he gets a call from a contending but underachieving team that has a talented roster and a clear chance to win? Suppose that team's owner and GM are unhappy with their manager and are looking for a quick fix that would not require a long-term commitment from La Russa?

Will he be able to say no? La Russa may say he'll never take another managing job, but that's how he feels right now. He may think he is resolute in that opinion, but things can change. It's hard to stay away, especially if the phone is ringing.

In honor of La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation, let me end it this way: The All-Star Game could be catnip for the future Hall of Fame manager.

— Bernie