http://tinyurl.com/nhymue Dave Duncan is not prepared to say where November will take him, whether this, his 14th season as Cardinals pitching coach, will be his last. He is more forthcoming about where the last several years, particularly the last five months, leave him. For now, Duncan is in a place that allows him to glean satisfaction from a pitching staff strong-arming the Cardinals to their first postseason appearance since 2006. He might celebrate his 30th season as a major-league pitching coach by overseeing a fifth Cy Young Award winner. But no matter how satisfying this season might become, it will leave an unsavory aftertaste that could lead him to walk away. "I'm not ready to make that decision right now," he said. "When I do, it will be a personal decision, not a professional one." Duncan says this looking straight ahead, unblinking. He is angry — publicly so at a St. Louis media he believes stoked last month's trade of his outfielder son Chris to the Boston Red Sox and, until now, privately at a franchise that has created a minor-league pitching philosophy independent of his and bullpen coach Marty Mason's input. A number inside and outside the Cardinals organization view Duncan's smoldering dissatisfaction as a precursor to him leaving after this season. That belief only gained steam last week when Duncan asked general manager John Mozeliak for a one-day leave of absence upon the team's return from a 5-2 West Coast trip to address "personal business." Duncan did not specify his reason for missing Tuesday's series opener against the Houston Astros, nor did Mozeliak ask for one. However, it was the first time manager Tony La Russa could remember his chief lieutenant missing a game for a reason other than suspension since the two joined forces with the 1983 Chicago White Sox. "A lot of factors will help determine what I ultimately do," Duncan said Thursday, the day after he returned to the club. "That decision isn't going to be made now, but it will be made at the end of the season." La Russa's contract expires at season's end. It is believed to be a virtual certainty Duncan would leave if La Russa chooses not to re-up. However, it is believed increasingly likely the last several months might cause Duncan to pursue another job regardless of La Russa's decision. Mozeliak is not deaf to the matter but says he prefers to let the season play out before addressing it. "These are the kind of discussions we traditionally reserve for when the season has played out," he said. "I don't know if we're best served delving into it now. But at some point I'm sure we'll talk about it." Duncan intends to coach next season, whether in St. Louis or elsewhere. Any perception that he and La Russa are intrinsically linked is incomplete. "I've told him before that our personal relationship never stands in the way of the professional," La Russa said. "Nothing has changed, and nothing will change about that." Likewise, La Russa believes a pull exists due to those returning next season from the current pitching staff. He dismisses any suggestion that his longtime ally has reached an indelible decision. "I know when it comes down to making a decision, Dave has tremendous personal and professional interest invested in the guys here and the guys here next year," La Russa said. "He values that deeply." Duncan recently cited consistently "malicious" treatment of his son as a factor in his recent reluctance to deal with local media. Handling of the trade, which he learned about only after the fact, fed the elder Duncan's frustration. "Chris was not shown respect," Duncan said. "The stuff he dealt with, the stuff he heard and was subjected to ... I don't know of any player in this town who went through what he experienced in the time I've been here." La Russa shares Duncan's profound sentiment about media and fan treatment of Chris. "I see guys struggle, and they don't get the same blame," La Russa insisted. "I see guys play defense. He gets pointed out. What Chris Duncan did in '06 to help get us into the postseason by itself should have given him maybe not a lifetime pass but certainly a lot of credibility. For two years he played hurt when he probably shouldn't have played. To me, he's a hero for how he hung in there; but he's treated like he's responsible for anything that went wrong." Duncan acknowledges his son's trade to the Red Sox likely was for the best but questions whether the club's silence regarding Chris' numerous injuries the last three seasons fed media scrutiny and fan criticism, which in turn fed momentum for the deal. After blasting 22 home runs in 280 at-bats in 2006, Duncan's breakout start to 2007 was sabotaged by a double hernia that neither player nor team confirmed until the younger Duncan submitted to surgery that September. The conspiracy of silence repeated itself last season when a herniated cervical disc left Duncan with excruciating pain in his neck and numbness in his right arm and hand. He required surgery to replace the defective disc with a prosthetic, a first-of-a-kind procedure on an American professional athlete. When Duncan's performance began to erode again this season, the club never acknowledged a physical issue. However, Duncan was scheduled to leave the club in Houston to be examined by his St. Louis surgeon, Dr. Dan Riew, the day after learning of the trade. (Dave Duncan had pushed for the exam.) Fearing what an examination might reveal, the younger Duncan refused to attend the appointment. Dave Duncan reacted harshly upon learning of the trade the night of July 21. While reporters were shooed from the Minute Maid Park visiting clubhouse, Duncan lashed out at the team's training staff in front of players for its handling of his son. Reminded that Chris consistently denied his injuries when queried by reporters, Duncan insisted, "At some point the club should protect those who don't protect themselves. Chris didn't protect himself. And no one else protected him either." La Russa says his understanding of Chris' hernia and cervical condition was less than total. "Until the end I didn't know the pain he was in," La Russa said. "I would have never played him if I thought the hernia would become a double hernia or if he was having trouble sleeping at night. (Chris) shares that (responsibility). But by doing that, my respect is magnified for him. He thought, 'If I could walk, I'm going to go out there.'" Chris Duncan was traded while in a one-for-31 funk that had dragged his overall average to .227. During what is now known as his "vomit speech," La Russa chastised St. Louis media and the team's fan base July 21 for its treatment of Duncan. "I get so tired of the treatment of Chris Duncan. It makes me want to vomit. And you can quote me on that," La Russa said. At the time, Mozeliak had informed La Russa that a trade was all but done. La Russa told his longtime pitching coach that night after the deal had been consummated. Chris and several teammates learned the news moments later. Because the Red Sox stipulated Duncan first be optioned, an official announcement was embargoed until the next afternoon. Dave Duncan took a two-pronged swipe following the trade, suggesting either an agenda in play within the organization or woeful minor-league depth necessitating a trade of a major-league player for someone (Lugo) already designated for assignment. "So somebody wanted to get him out of the organization, and they've accomplished what they wanted to accomplish," Duncan said the day the deal was announced. "Either that or we don't have anybody in the minor leagues they wanted. One or the other." Even after the deal, Duncan and his family received letters and e-mails celebrating the move. Some included personal attacks on his son's abilities and training habits. Duncan has a father's memory of such attacks. Professional differences with the team's player development side are a compounding issue. Dave Duncan was a member of Walt Jocketty's inner circle prior to Jocketty's dismissal as general manager in October 2007. Since Mozeliak's hiring, player development has become more autonomous under vice president of scouting and player development Jeff Luhnow. A number of Duncan's confidantes, including former minor-league pitching coordinator Mark Riggins, have resigned or been removed. Duncan now isn't consulted on either potential player acquisitions or organization instruction. Communication between the two sides is scattershot, at best. "It's changed the last three years," Duncan said. "We have our way of doing things up here, and they do things their way in the minor leagues. We're not involved. That's the way it is." "They have their reasons," La Russa said. "They think there's a health issue that can be improved and are examining ways to be healthier, better and all that stuff. Some of that is different from what Dave believes." The matter has become part of the new organizational drapery, according to Duncan, a deviation from how many clubs do business but something to be handled rather than confronted. "It's probably not going to change," Duncan said. "It's part of the job. You adjust. It's the way things are done now. You deal with it." For how much longer no one will say. --

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