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LaRussa turns to bottle in undated photo (Source: Flickr.com-John Renfro 99)

Disconsolate following his team’s unexpected early exit from the postseason, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said he will seek comfort from his old friend, the bottle.

“The bottle has always been there for me in my time of need,” LaRussa said shortly after his team’s season-ending 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I think it’s about time we get together again.”

LaRussa and the bottle had apparently been at odds ever since the manager’s DUI arrest in March of 2007. LaRussa had blamed the bottle for the incident, claiming that it had kept him from operating his vehicle properly. LaRussa swore off the bottle shortly after the incident, saying that the two would no longer be friends.

However, LaRussa is so devastated because of his team’s loss that he is even considering befriending several bottles at once.

“I think it’s gonna take more than one bottle to get over this one,” he said. “In fact, I know of a place where they have 99 bottles on the wall. I think I’ll take one down and pass it around, followed by another, and then another. In times like these, you need all the friends you can get.”

LaRussa also said that his consultation with the bottle may help him determine his future. He is 65 years old and says he is unsure if he wants to return for a 15th season as the Cardinals manager.

“I really don’t know what I want to do yet,” he said. “I have a feeling that once I start spending time with the bottle again, I may not want to do anything else. We’ve always had such a good time together.”

The St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Brewery, the former owner of the Cardinals and purveyor of millions of bottles, would not comment as to whether it had been contacted recently by LaRussa.