La Russa’s lament

ST. LOUIS. It’s been a long time since Tony La Russa was lionized in George Will’s book, “Men at Work.”

Over those 13 years, every time his team has been in the postseason his reputation as a great manager takes a little hit with each series loss.

There was his 2-4 record with Oakland in the 1992 American League Championship Series, and his 3-4 record in the 1996 NLCS with St. Louis, followed by his 1-4 mark with the Cardinals in the 2000 NLCS and his 1-4 disaster in the 2002 series.

Four trips to the LCS and no World Series. And when his team was in danger of losing the NLCS to Houston last week, you could see the weight of his postseason failures in his nervous demeanor. It seemed to be beyond simply his team — considered perhaps the best in baseball this year, with an All-Star lineup and 105 regular-season wins — losing the series. It was as if he were feeling his legacy fading because of his poor postseason record.

He got a reprieve when the Cards won Game7, but the loser tag is now front and center after his team dropped the first three games to the Boston Red Sox in this World Series.

Couple that with the sweep of his powerful Oakland team by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1990 World Series, and, of course, his Athletics loss to the clearly weaker Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the 1988 Series, and you have a postseason resume that is difficult to ignore and may define La Russa’s career when all is said and done — even with his regular-season record of 2,114 wins.

That record, putting him sixth on the all-time list of major league managers, likely will be enough to put him in the Hall of Fame. But his plaque will have a long list of what-ifs along with his accomplishments. And if it wasn’t for his Athletics win over the San Francisco Giants in the 1989 World Series, his postseason record would be even more of a burden, even prompting talk of a “La Russa Curse” of some sort.

The 1989 World Series title lets him off the hook, but that A’s team, with great hitters like Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, strong starting pitching with Dave Stewart and Bob Welch and one of the greatest closers of all time in Dennis Eckersley, should have had more to show after three straight trips to the World Series than one championship. They were the clear favorites going into all three series.

The lack of success by the favored A’s eliminates the argument that La Russa has not had the players for World Series success.

Maybe this glaring chink in his armor is the reason La Russa has gone out of his way to say the success of the team is based on the players, not the manager. “Players play,” he said. “The last couple of times when we’ve been here, when you get outplayed, you get beat.”

This was La Russa’s reply to a question that, ironically, was about his managerial genius and how he has not gotten the credit he deserves. “This game is about the players, and the stories should be about how they’re playing,” he said. “It shouldn’t be about how well the hitting coach is doing or the manager. You just put guys in the right spot. … I feel I’ve gotten more attention and credit than I felt comfortable with.”

And perhaps blame as well.