Bigger problems

ESPN is reporting that St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa was arrested this morning and charged with a DUI!!! Police found him asleep at the wheel while stopped at a green light that had cycled through twice. They approached the vehicle and knocked on the window and LaRussa didn't respond. Eventually he woke up, pulled over, and took a sobriety test where he was found to have a blood alcohol level of .093 (legal limit is .08). The article didn't say anything about being released from jail yet or anything. This will make the next few weeks VERY interesting. Some of you may remember that former Cardinals hitting coach, Mitchell Page, was relieved of his duties a few years back supposedly so he could get help with his alcohol problems. To my knowledge Page was never arrested on a DUI so it will be interesting to see how the front office handles this one.

Edit: Here's a better article. I found this little bit pretty interesting "The incident occurs five weeks after La Russa encouraged his team to avoid distractions following the club’s first world championship since 1982."

Update: after being charged with the misdemeanor, La Russa issued a formal apology to fans, friends, family, and team members. Word is that La Russa could be facing some prison time - up to 6 months. however, since the policeman said that Tony was cooperative, the sentence should be minimal. the world champion manager is embarrassed and anxious to move forward.