Tony LaRussa Is in Denial - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Yesterday Matt Watson told us all that Tony LaRussa wanted the Cardinals to consider signing Barry Bonds for this season. I wasn't exactly surprised by the news, because given LaRussa's past, he's not exactly scared by the prospect of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.

After all, this is the man that oversaw the dawn of the steroid era while managing both Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in Oakland, while the two were just discovering their fondness for needles. He's also currently the manager of a team that has five players named in The Mitchell Report, and already signed Juan Gonzalez to a minor-league deal earlier this month.

So how does LaRussa cope with the enhanced scrutiny he's come under thanks to our country's new found obsession with steroids? Easy. It's called denial, and Tony's deep in it.

From an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell:

As we continued to talk, we moved on to McGwire and his tainted legacy. La Russa compared McGwire's work ethic to that of another man caught in the steroids swirl, Clemens. In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, La Russa maintained that both of them deserve a pass. "There's a certain amount of credit that should be given to a guy who's worked hours and hours to get stronger and bigger," he said.

I reminded him that the whole point of using many performance-enhancing drugs is to increase the ability to work and train harder. "So working hard doesn't give you an alibi that you didn't use drugs," I told him.

"Well, that's what you believe and you're probably right according to testimony, but that's not what I believe," La Russa said. "I watched Mark McGwire work."

I interrupted him.

"Wait a minute, Tony. You still don't believe McGwire used performance-enhancing drugs?"

"Absolutely not."

"Come on."

"Absolutely not," he said. "If you see Mark today, he still looks like he did then."

"No, he doesn't," I said.

"Yes, he does," La Russa said.

"No, he doesn't," I repeated.

Now that's good interviewing!

Seriously, if Tony LaRussa honestly believes that Mark McGwire was completely clean after everything we've learned in the years since he retired, the man needs to retire right the hell now. He's obviously insane, and shouldn't be managing a baseball team, even one as bad as the Cardinals are going to be.