When Ozzie Smith repeated his hope he would be welcomed with open arms by the St. Louis management after La Russa was gone, the Cardinals skipper countered by bad-mouthing the hall-of-famer.
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http:/...052217&srvc=sz
Now, I'm not going to pretend I understand Smith's frustration with La Russa or agree with his grudge, but you would think La Russa would take the high road and not come out swinging.
La Russa is making a mistake here with the Cardinals faithful in my opinion. He should make every attempt to come across as welcoming and eager to put this feud with Smith behind them, then it's Smith that looks like he won't get over it.
Instead, Smith reiterates he isn't welcomed by current management, and instead of extending his hand further to get Smith back into the graces of the organization, La Russa publicly berates him and says he doesn't want to ever see him again? Wow. That's bold.