MLB World Series 2011: Tony LaRussa's Micromanaging Will Lead Cardinals To Title

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has been called many things by many people but hands-off has never been one of them. That does not always work well in the regular season, but it has worked to perfection in the postseason and Game 1 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers. 

LaRussa got six strong innings from starting pitcher Chris Carpenter on Wednesday night. But with the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth and men on first and third, he put in Craig Allen to pinch hit for his star pitcher and he delivered the go-ahead single. 

After that, LaRussa mixed and matched his bullpen against the Texas lineup the way that he has done all postseason long. It makes for boring television to see him walk to the mound so much, but he is pushing all the right buttons. 

Fans and analysts have attacked LaRussa all season long for his constant over-managing of every single game, and it nearly cost the team a spot in the playoffs, but the postseason is the time when all that really pays off. 

LaRussa wants to control every moment of every game, but that does not work well for the team in mid-July. 

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com put it best when he wrote that LaRussa is one of the greatest chess players that baseball has ever seen.

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"Maybe he's a long-lost relative of Anatoly Karpov. It's possible he grew up with Boris Spassky. Or maybe he just ran into Garry Kasparov at a chicken dinner someplace.

But once again Wednesday night, that noted grandmaster of the emerald chess board, Mr. Tony La Russa, checkmated his way through the World Chess Championships of October, at his Karpovian best."

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The season looked lost for this team at the end of August, and a big reason for that was LaRussa being unable to get out of his own way to let the players play the game. But ever since his team got into the playoffs, he has pushed all the right buttons. 

Texas manager Ron Washington deserves some blame for how badly he managed Game 1, but LaRussa still had to make the necessary moves to keep the team ahead. 

Maybe the problem is that LaRussa is not a good regular season manager, but his style works perfectly in the postseason.