He’s much more than a temper tantrum
Most young people know just one thing about St. Louis Cardinals batting coach Hal McRae.
It was a May night in 1993, McRae was Kansas City Royals manager and, following a loss, he lost it.
His profanity-filled tirade probably would not have been seen in so many American homes, except for the fact that ESPN SportsCenter was now becoming a staple on cable throughout the nation.
We saw McRae snap. Again and again and again, thanks to ESPN.
I lived in Washington, D.C. at the time, but you would have thought I was in Kansas City.
It doesn’t seem possible that the mild-mannered and quiet McRae would ever go that ballistic for any reason. Hired by the Royals in late 1991, the first-time manager watched his team get off to a 2-17 start in 1992.
A former All-Star for the Royals and one of the game’s first successful designated hitters, he was beloved by Royals fans.
But the losses mounted, and the pressure built inside of McRae.
Then, he lost it. A telephone was flung across the room; an ashtray struck a reporter in the face.
The F-word flew, and he ended the tirade by shouting, “Now put that in your (bleeping) pipe and smoke it!”
McRae apologized, was fined and suspended, and would later say, “There was a stretch of games one season when I was kind of high-strung, and I’m not a high-strung person.”
“That’s not my nature; that’s out of character for me to be emotional.”
McRae was obviously not the guy for the Royals job back in the early ‘90s.
However, he is the perfect match for the Cardinals – especially in this odd but very successful season.
While manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan look as tight as snare drums most evenings, McRae looks almost peaceful.
La Russa has received most of the credit for keeping the injury-plagued team playing at such a high level, but McRae deserves a major tip of the hat.
Somebody has taught the Cardinals the importance of putting the baseball in play. Somebody is in charge of bunting. Somebody is in charge of situational hitting.
That somebody is McRae.
McRae has kept a watchful eye on the many rookies and journeymen that have filled in this year while other Redbirds healed. None of them fell on their face. They should thank McRae.
Rather than tinker with what got guys to the Major Leagues, he is often heard repeating the importance of line drives and making good contact. He doesn’t care how they swing or how they look: He cares about results.
Earlier this year, after the Cardinals struggled against Boston’s David Wells, McRae had this to say about his philosophy of hitting.
“The plan was to be aggressive, because he’s around the plate He doesn’t throw bad balls. You could almost swing at everything he throws. But he threw pitcher’s strikes, and you’re going to make outs on those anyway,” he said.
“It’s even worse if you hit it on the first pitch. That way, he doesn’t even throw pitches. If you hit the pitcher’s strike, on the first pitch you make an out. You don’t give him an opportunity to make mistakes.”
That’s pretty cerebral for a guy who is best known for a temper tantrum.
By the way, the Cardinals have a .270 batting average (compared to .255 for their opponents), a .339 on-base percentage and .425 slugging percentage.
McRae believes in hitting mistakes. The Cardinals did not make one when they hired him.