As the July 31, 1999, trade deadline approached, Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty was asked about the speculation surrounding the future of the Cardinals' manager, Tony La Russa.

And there is no good reason to doubt even a fraction of a single word uttered by Jocketty, in mid-July, on this subject.

"I think...I think...Tony...is a very proud man.

"I think he wants to turn this club around in the second half, and have [the team be] competitive.

"He will do as good a job in the second half as he did in the first half.

"If we get a few breaks and get some guys healthy, and if we can improve our pitching, we're going to be much better in the second half.

"If all those things fall into place, and he feels good about his position, then I think he'll come back.

"I think Tony is the type of guy who did not want to accept a contract just to accept a contract. I think he's in a position in his life where he loves managing.

"I know he wants to manage in the year 2000.

"He wants to manage for the Cardinals, but he doesn't want to be in a place where, maybe it's because Mark McGwire is here or whatever the situation is...that's he's given a [contract]...

"He wants to feel...I really respect him for it...the easiest thing for him to do would be to accept a contract and play it out for a couple of years.

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"He respects the game. He really respects the Cardinals and the history and tradition of this organization and the ownership...and he doesn't want to be in a position where he doesn't feel like he deserves [the job] and honors [the job].

"That's probably the best way of putting it with him...and he won't tell you that. He doesn't want to put himself above everything."

Reading the "printed" words above is one piece to the puzzle...and listening to a man speak adds another.

You the St. Louis Sports Online user can do both, at least as far as these particular Walt Jocketty statements are concerned.

But, on that afternoon in mid-July, in the room with Walt Jocketty as he uttered the above statements, a listener was left with an additional impression: that Jocketty himself did not know what Tony La Russa planned to do, baseball-wise, beyond the 1999 season.

Which, at the time, meshed with the impressions of yours truly.

That's because, to this observer, the "atmosphere" and "chemistry" and "feelings" surrounding La Russa, starting in spring training in the days immediately following Matt Morris' elbow problems, seemed ever-so-slightly different from the La Russa that, to some, sounded so hopeful at baseball's '98-'99 Winter Meetings.

At spring training, the difference was impossible to quantify...and/or qualify. And I still can't.

But the difference was there.

But when Matt Morris went down in the second week of March, Tony La Russa, a manager that craves winning, a manager that could conceivably pick his job in MLB...well, Tony La Russa could see the future.

At least as far as the '99 season was concerned.

And it wasn't a pretty picture.

Which is saying something...because the very last thing that Tony La Russa would want to communicate, to anyone interested in the St. Louis Cardinals, is a lack of certainty in his own beliefs concerning his squad and its chances.

But my impressions concerning La Russa were, and are, just that--only impressions.

That's because you don't get too far probing, really probing, the Cardinals manager about his views of a team, his team, that likely has no real chance to win a pennant.

Probably the best guess, and it's just a guess, as to how La Russa views the '99 Cards, and their broken-down pitching staff, is to analyze his views of Joe Torre's '95 season in St. Louis.

That question was posed to La Russa, in a July 31 interview. The question concerned how the Cardinals starting pitching staff in 1996, his first season in St. Louis, was put together.

Recall that La Russa's '96 Cardinals were one game away from the World Series.

"I remember getting the job, and you start looking closely at what had happened the last few years, and you had to feel for Joe Torre and the coaches.

"Because they had really been victimized with disruptions in their team.

"Coming from that Oakland and Chicago...anybody that wins, there's a certain stability that what you run out there...your rotation takes a lot of innings, they give you a chance to win every day.

"Your position players, you're going to take some injuries and have some slumps.

"But by and large, your nucleus is going to be out there a lot.

"I remember when we looked at it, Joe (Torre) had to deal with Mike Morgan getting hurt and Danny Jackson having the illness.

"We were talking along with Walt and the coaches...

"We thought, with Donovan Osborne and hopefully Alan Benes...and if we could just pick up a couple of guys...that we felt had a history of taking the ball...

"And we did...Walt made a terrific trade for Todd Stottlemyre and he signed Andy Benes...and those two guys just anchored our rotation...the starting pitching became a very big strength on that '96 club that ended up winning."

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Fast forward to August 15.

One month has passed since Walt Jocketty made those statements about his current manager, Tony La Russa.

Since that time, La Russa has spent a few days in a hospital for a stomach ailment, gone home to California for some R-and-R, and returned to his post as the Cardinals manager.

Meanwhile, La Russa's Cardinals have continued their less-than-inspired play.

But something around the ballpark, at least as far as the Cardinals' manager is concerned, has changed since mid-July.

Again, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is.

But something is in the air that suggests that Tony La Russa is coming back in the year 2000.

Coming back to manage the St. Louis Cardinals, that is.

Maybe it's that the team's owners are showing up in the clubhouse.

Maybe it's that La Russa has made the rounds on virtually all of the local media outlets, including lengthy appearances on KMOX with Bob Costas and on Mike Shannon's post-game show (Live at Shannon's).

You know--sort of like the neighborhood terrier marking his property line.

Or maybe it's Mark McGwire telling Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz that La Russa will be back. Whatever...the feeling is there.

So let's go on record: Tony La Russa will manage the Cardinals in 2000.

But, as of August 16, the announcement that Tony La Russa has re-signed with the Cardinals has not yet materialized.

That announcement has not materialized despite a published report that a contract renewal from ownership is "on the table".

That announcement has not materialized despite La Russa telling Costas, on KMOX, that the Cardinals managerial job is "one of the best jobs in baseball...it is [the] place to be as a manager".

Says here that La Russa has not yet announced that he is returning as the Cardinals manager because his apparent reluctance to re-sign is, in his own way, a mechanism to indicate to the Cardinals fans, and to the Cardinals players, management, and owners, that he himself is not satisfied with the outcomes of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 seasons, in terms of wins and losses.

So, in essence, Tony La Russa is threatening to fire himself.

In the view of this bureau, that's not going to happen...in part because La Russa believes that the '99-'00 off-season will be as productive, pitching-wise, to the Cardinals, as the '95-96 off-season was.

You can expect Rick Ankiel, and maybe Chad Hutchinson, to be a part of that mix.

So when will Tony La Russa announce his decision?

When will it be fair to expect an answer? Mid-September?

Here's La Russa's answer:

"That's a good question. You'd have to have a real good feel for where the season was going, and [when] it's done. Here's what it is: whenever there's a certainty for where our club is, in 1999."

La Russa continued: "It's not important. I'm not worried. It's not a big deal."

Yes, it is.

• Memories of First and Second Impressions... (March 99)
  
• The Alan Benes Saga... (Feb 99)
  
• It's Time For A Change... (Aug 98)
  
• Make Up Your Mind... (Aug 97)
  
• The Cardinals 1997 Media Guide Cover: Ch- Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes... (Aug 97)
  
• They're Not So Desperate...Yet (July 97)
  
• If It Hadn't Been For Bettis... (April 97)