Cardinals Collective Monocles Fall Into Their Collective Martinis

Seriously, what a bunch of namby-pamby wusses. Carlos Lee popped a ball up, got mad at himself and spiked his bat. This self-criticism, despite containing no shirt-untucking, led pitcher Chris Carpenter to start a riot.* Tony La Russa, who was probably drunk, supports his pitcher:

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa contended that Carpenter did nothing wrong.

"Well, routinely now, hitters pop up a pitch they think they should do [something] with, and they start making noises, and that really is disrespectful to the pitcher," La Russa said. "Most of the pitchers just turn around and ignore it. Carp doesn't. And I think Carp's in the right.

"I think respect should go both ways. He gets you out, he gets you out. Just zip it and go back. He gives it up, you zip it and let the guy go around the bases. Most pitchers, they let the guys jabber. I don't think Carlos Lee is anything special as far as a guy who disrespects, but it's so common now."

My understanding is that when the Cardinals lose they get mad if the other team celebrates, and that if they succeed and get a player out, they get mad if the failing player expresses emotion about failing. Carlos Lee makes a salient point:

"I guess he's allowed to yell and say anything he wants because when Lance got that hit, he was screaming and yelling and saying all kinds of stuff out there," Lee said. "But as a hitter, we can't get emotional? Why? I got a pitch to hit and got mad because I should have hit it and I popped it up. I got mad at myself."

The Cardinals are such assholes.

*And yes, this is entirely Carpenter's fault. He had Lee out. Lee wasn't "showing him up" because you can't show someone up if they get you out. He was the equivalent of the ump who follows a guy back to the dugout just because he feels like starting something. What a jackass.

This is nothing new for the Cardinals, of course.