What's this???? Ten years later and Ozzie still holds a grudge???? Geez! Get over it, Ozzie!

LaRussa said nice things about Ozzie. Admits they weren't friends, but it was obvious he'd gotten over it.

The article that started it all.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/9694831BB7739860862571750009402F?OpenDocument

The second article. LaRussa takes back what he previously said about Ozzie being welcome at Spring Training as an instructor.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/EB238DB17CC0A0F186257176001A4DE7?OpenDocument

Ozzie, you screwed the pooch, buddy. I remember your exploits well and warmly. Your presence will be missed around the stadium and Spring Training, but I'm siding with LaRussa. Your comments are absurd. It didn't have to be this way. Your bust.

Pride my ass. Sheer stupidity.

Yeah, this is just an incredibly unfortunate deal.

I mostly side with LaRussa, too - though I did think that his response was a bit of an over-reaction.

I think Ozzie's perspective is symptomatic of the larger question of Hall-of-Fame-caliber players who are way past their prime and are unwilling to admit that fact and move on. It is painful for them to work through it, and it is painful for us fans to have to watch it. Too often it ends with hard feelings.

Ozzie was arguably the greatest defensive shortstop to ever play the game. LaRussa has got to be on a top five list of all-time great managers. Everybody was doing their jobs, and it just sucks that it has to continue like this.

Here's hoping cooler heads prevail.

Matthew

So why was Clayton traded after 2 1/2 years?

Honestly, I don't remember. Taking a look at the stats - he did not play well in 1997 and 1998 - he was batting .234 when they traded him in 07/98.

It turned out OK, though - six months after they traded Clayton was when they traded for Edgar Renteria in part of the extended Marlins post-World Series fire sale.

That is part of what is so absurd about the whole thing - if we had been talking about a young Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, or Miguel Tejada replacing Ozzie, that would be one thing. But Royce Clayton?

That is part of what is so absurd about the whole thing - if we had been talking about a young Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, or Miguel Tejada replacing Ozzie, that would be one thing. But Royce Clayton?

At the time, he was considered to be a rising star. I think being stuck in the middle affected him.