I have no problem bashing LaRussa, or at least greatly downgrading his "achievements", given the talented teams he was provided to skipper. His post-season performance was remarkably lacking IMO. Even the last WS with the Cardinals he looked literally dazed and confused on several occasions, made bad decisions and created stories to explain his misuse of the bullpen. And his post season failures are legendary--starting back in '83 when his 99 win White Sox could only score 3 runs in 4 games against Baltimore, his '88 A's were manhandled by a Dodgers team that was the weakest WS representative in 22 years (since the '66 Dodgers, with a possible argument for the '73 Mets), and his '90 A's not only failed as favorites (103 wins), but were SWEPT by the Reds. Throw in that pitcher batting 8th crap and I always thought that this guy's "mystique" was mostly media created and did not stand up to close scrutiny.
That being said, Bill, I find your arguments unpersuasive. As a Terry Steinbach fan (I watched him play as a 14 year old), I take some umbrage at calling him out for his one HR season. Apart from that, however, your criticism of the 1996 A's as juicers makes little sense when tied to LaRussa inasmuch you acknowledge he left before that season started. So having left the team before 1996, LaRussa "knew" that his catcher would start juicing after? That makes little sense.
As for Steinbach, he was there throughout the bash-brothers era of '87-92. Why didn't he hit HRs then? Is is possible that he just had a fluke year? Keep in mind, he also had significantly more games and plate appearances in '96 than any other season, and that also was playing for his last contract--becoming a free agent at the end of the year. And BTW, Brady Anderson hit 50 that year, not playing for Tony LaRussa.
As for the A's HR total, again Larussa was not there so how is that attributed to him? Also, the A's finished third in MLB that year in HR's, so others were belting 'em too. In all, 8 teams hit more than 200 HR's that season, compared to 1 the year prior and 3 the year following. It was a fluke year all around, and many of us thought the ball was as juiced as any player.
I'm not saying that LaRussa was unaware throughout the years of what was going on his clubhouse--I just don't understand how your "evidence" shows it.
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If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President.
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