David Haugh
Chicago TribuneKevin Schnall still remembers the look on Tommy La Stella's face the day Coastal Carolina University coaches openly doubted his ability to play second base.
"We said, 'Tommy, with your range and your hands, we don't think you can do it,''' the school's hitting coach said. "And he became outstanding.''
Then there was the day before La Stella's final season at Coastal in 2011 when Schnall asked him to jot down some goals.
"I looked at the numbers he wrote down,'' said Schnall, who La Stella called the most influential coach of his career. "And I said, 'Tommy, that's great but I don't feel like these are attainable … and he came pretty damn close. He loved defying odds and proving people wrong.''
That is the driven overachiever Schnall recalls when he thinks of La Stella, the guy named Big South player of the year in 2011, not the pouty spoilsport who went home to New Jersey for three weeks after refusing the Cubs' minor-league assignment in July.
Why Cubs President Theo Epstein confirmed Monday plans to promote La Stella this week remains baffling. Who gets to come back to a good job after taking an unexcused three-week vacation? The Cubs figure to stay the best team in baseball with or without La Stella's lively left-handed bat off the bench. Their World Series hopes don't hinge on a part-time player hitting .295 before a demotion caused by a numbers game everybody but La Stella understood.
Adding a utility infielder who turned his back on teammates hardly creates the same ethical dilemma as, say, acquiring baseball's most feared relief pitcher with a troubled past. La Stella doesn't affect World Series aspirations to the degree Aroldis Chapman does, so it would be easier for the Cubs to just move on without the infielder and send an organizational-wide message about loyalty. That's what I would do. La Stella acted too selfishly for me to deserve a spot on a team full of selfless players poised to make history.
But the Cubs will let La Stella return, a conclusion team officials reached after private discussions they plan to keep that way. They have shown tremendous patience and the way they speak about the 27-year-old player privately implies his reaction involves something deeper. One team source called the situation "complicated.'' If any manager can deal with whatever distraction La Stella creates, it is Joe Maddon, a man who vows daily to do simple better.
For his part, La Stella has declined all interviews but would ingratiate himself quicker back in Chicago if he is as transparent as possible. Schnall declined to comment on La Stella's commitment to baseball, allowing only that his well-rounded former pupil loved the game but "doesn't have all his eggs in one basket.'' He has exchanged texts with his fellow New Jersey native and believes La Stella can overcome any doubts, which typically drive him.
"His intelligence, competitive and work ethic is infectious,'' Schnall said. "I want him in my foxhole. I'm from New Jersey so I can say this: Tommy is like that Italian guy who feels like everybody is against him. He thrives on that.''
Not always passionate about baseball, La Stella emerged as a prospect his senior year at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, N.J. He became a walk-on at St. John’s, where he hoped hitting .320 as a freshman would allow the school to fulfill its pledge of a scholarship. When St. John’s didn’t, La Stella bolted for a better opportunity at Coastal Carolina, where he made a quick impression.
"The thing I appreciate now most about Tommy was you had to be prepared as a coach at practice because, if you weren't, he would call you out,'' Schnall said.
For example, La Stella often questioned coaches' strategy behind baserunning or defensive decisions. His intense conversations on hitting changed the way Schnall handled other players.
"Tommy was one of the first guys who developed a deeper understanding of high-level swing mechanics,'' Schnall said. "He forced me to be prepared to have dialogue on the field.''
La Stella was motivated even more after no team selected him in the 2010 amateur draft despite his hitting .375. After his numbers improved the following year, the Braves took him in the eighth round.
"I apologized on behalf of the industry that we missed him the previous year,'' Braves scout Billy Best said over the phone.
Best, who spotted La Stella at an open tryout in 2009, remembered a minor-leaguer with major-league confidence.
"Tommy always knew he could hit but it took others awhile to figure it out,'' Best said.
A rough start at Class A Rome (Ga.) hardly made it obvious. He initially struggled so badly that he told his parents not to come to games and stayed in his room on trips.
"I've never seen a kid in my life take it as hard as he did,'' Best said. "That's the way Tommy was, very emotional but a great kid with high highs, low lows.''
Based on his actions since July 27, that's the way La Stella still is — yet, for reasons hard for me to grasp, the Cubs will welcome him back anyway.
dhaugh@chicagotribune.comTwitter @DavidHaugh
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