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A fantastic career that culminated in a most improbable World Series victory.
From last year: 10 best managerial finales.
Only seven managers ever worked in five decades. Two retired last year (Torre and Cox) and two are retiring this year (LaRussa and McKeon). Plus we've also seen Lou Piniella and Cito Gaston go in the same time period.
he is*--the only other examples in all of sports I can think of are Buck Shaw (1960 Iggles), John Wooden (1975 UCLA), Al McGuire (1977 Marquette), Howard Schnellengerger (1983 Miami)
*unless you count the weird Johnny Keane situation in 1964
Bill Walsh. At least from the NFL.
What, you WANT them to leave?
Ranking of video games piggybacking off a name:
7. World Series Baseball Starring Deion Sanders
6. Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run
5. Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball
4. Cal Ripken Real Baseball
3. Tony La Russa Baseball
2. Earl Weaver Baseball
1. RBI Baseball
Oquendo, right?
As was the case with all right-thinking people, I never liked him, but damn he was a hell of a skipper.
If you think the Cards dumped him when his value was lowest, don't look at his numbers in Toronto.
Whoah - I forgot about that. Only 35 short, too.
However, Tony LaRussa won 62 games in the postseason and McGraw had 26. So if you include those . .. . LaRussa leads by ONE.
Whither Dave Duncan? He had health problems this year so I'll assume he's retiring, too.
Knowing when to leave might be the toughest decision in sports. Tony did it right.
In terms of wins - Jim Leyland, Dusty Baker, and Bruce Bochy.
In terms of games over .500: Davey Johnson, Mike Scioscia, Charlie Manuel.
I still don't understand this. I love(d) playing the game of baseball so much, I couldn't imagine not playing it just for sake of public image. I would be one of those players that retire when they stop offering me contracts, and I would enjoy every damn sub replacement year I could produce.
Damn, Dusty's record in Cincinnati is the exact same as it was in Chicago, 322-326.
I would think so. At least he is the favorite of the internal canidates.
Also, it didn't last, but Dick Vermeil retired after the Rams SB win.
Anyhow, does this at all affect Pujols' decision?
And as I agreed with in the other thread, THAT's the way to retire, Tony.
I’ve seen a lot of Tony LaRussa in my life, and grew to detest him, but fact is he was the second most interesting and entertaining manager around in my lifetime, so he will be missed. I also think he evolved from being an over-rated manager to a great one, primarily in his time in St. Louis. In his prior gigs, he seemed to be like most managers, prone to expiring after a few years and losing his touch in an organization. I’m sure that the Cardinals organization being what it is helped, but I think after those last few horrible years in Oakland he re-invented himself and truly mastered the role. He made plenty of mistakes but you can’t argue with the results. The Cardinals had so many success stories in his tenure, not just the championships, but the individuals who had so many great seasons.
Color me completely surprised. I thought Tony looked kind of old and a bit worn down at the Series press conferences (Especially the bullpen phone one) but this is just out of nowhere.
Fare thee well, Tony. I never cared much for you, and I never liked your teams, but you were a helluva manager (Call it Danny Ainge syndrome-love him when he's on your team but loathe him otherwise), the best of your era.And a pretty good era for managers it was.
Way to go out on top.
(Wonder what impact this will have on the Pujol's negotiations?)
Larry Brown's last game as a college coach was upsetting Oklahoma in the '88 Finals. Not quite the same thing though.
In any event, what a career Mr. LaRussa, so congrats. You were always smarter than all the know-it-alls who like to delude themselves into thinking that they're smarter than you, and you got the last laugh in the end. Now for God's sake, don't drink and drive.
Schnellenberger is still coaching, but he's retiring after this year. It would be a huge story if Florida Atlantic sent him off with the national championship, since they're 0-6 and they're Florida Atlantic.
*8 if you include the 1986 White Sox, the only team to fire him - which GM Hawk Harrelson did in the first half of the season.
I'm guessing there aren't any other MLB managers who are law school graduates now.
Albert & Tony to the Cubs? They'd probably have to shoot that Clydesdale
Could we get TOrre, Cox, and LaRussa going in the same year to Cooperstown?
IIRC, anyone over 65 has to be retired for a year and a half. The issue is when does the non-players election from the VC occur. Depending on how it works out, you might get all three in the same induction ceremony.
I think it's amazing that since the middle of 1979, he only spent three weeks not managing a club.
Shouldn't it be at least three years out? Gillick beat out, among others, Billy Martin in the most recent Expansion Era election, and I'd think all three of those guys would be on the same ballot with Billy.
1-30-43: Davey Johnson
1-4-44: Charlie Manuel
12-15-44: Jim Leyland
5-27-49: Terry Collins
6-15-49: Dusty Baker
4-29-52: Ron Washington
2-8-54: Joe Maddon
8-19-54: Ned Yost
4-16-55: Bruce Bochy
12-31-55: Jim Tracy
5-23-56: Buck Showalter
8-19-56: Ron Roenicke
1-19-57: Brad Mills
3-12-57: Mike Quade
5-28-57: Kirk Gibson
6-30-57: Bud Black
7-30-57: Clint Hurdle
10-24-57: Ron Gardenhire
11-27-58: Mike Scioscia
4-20-61: Don Mattingly
10-28-61: Bob Melvin
8-4-62: John Farrell
1-20-64: Ozzie Guillen
1-28-64: Fredi Gonzalez
10-14-64: Joe Girardi
7-14-67: Robin Ventura
1-27-68: Eric Wedge
1-11-69: Manny Acta
Johnson & Manuel are older than LaRussa.
I count 70 postseason wins (70-57 in games, 16-11 in series)
Bill Walsh was added. Schnellenberger was subtracted. Should add Tom Osborne to list.
Yep. 33 years and missed only 3 weeks. It's about as long as John McGraw, who was there all the time from 1901-31. No break for McGraw, but LaRussa had a longer stretch of consecutive years managed. Connie Mack was the only one who lasted more consecutive years than LaRussa.
That's right. I forgot Gillick just wen tin this year.
I count 70 postseason wins (70-57 in games, 16-11 in series)
I'll recheck.
EDITED: rechecked - you're right. 70 postseason wins. Thanks for the correction.
He'll be a Hall of Famer, for sure.
Last player active in 1981 who played major-league baseball: I believe it was Rickey Henderson, in 2003 (Julio Franco started in 1982, and played until 2007);
Last manager who managed in 1981 to remain active: Torre and Cox were active until 2010; McKeon and LaRussa through 2011. Do we think any of these four guy will manage a team again? Frank Robinson? LaRussa is the youngest - he just turned 67 years old.
Remaining stadia from 1981: Wrigley, Dodger Stadium, Fenway, Kaufmann. Oakland and Anaheim are in the same buildings, but both have been significantly changed. Wrigley and Fenway are obviously unique. As time goes by, the planning, location, and construction of Dodger Stadium (at a time when most other ballparks getting built were cookie-cutter concrete ashtrays) remains an amazing accomplishment. And the transformation of Kaufmann from Three Rivers Stadium to gorgeous ballpark is something, too.
I have to say, there's not much left from the days when LaRussa started. Third most wins. Second most games managed. Three rings - only five men have more rings. Made lasting changes to the game of baseball (if you said, "He manages like LaRussa," somebody would know what you meant). An all-timer.
Tony La Russa's Ultimate Baseball had a Commodore 64 version.
No kidding. Even Red Schoendienst doesn't have a Clydesdale.
Waiting for Brock's take on this.
How can there be just one manager younger than me, while there are at least three GMs? That just seems weird.
Which brings to mind that TLR is a ringer for one of the great trivia questions I've ever heard:
Name the 3 men who started a game at SS as an 18 year old in the post `61 expansion era.
The hint is that all 3 are, or will be, in the HoF.
The other two are easy to guess, but TLR is the crusher.
Oquendo's been the heir apparent for many years, but... you never know. They might look for more of a sabr-guy. Francona?
I don't think it affects Pujols. He's looking for 8-10 years, and TLR was clearly year-to-year in any case. I don't think Albert would base an 8- to 10-year decision on who's going to be managing for only 1 or 2. It might have worked in the other direction -- Tony might know Albert's leaving, and that might have helped make up his mind.
I guessed Ernie Banks and Ripken which were both wrong. Banks is way older than that and Ripken didn't debut until 20. Duh, one must be A-rod.
Ripken didn't start that young did he? I assumed A-Rod and Yount were the two players.
Yount would be the other.
If you add temporary retirements to the list of eligibles, I doubt if any manager's ever had a greater sendoff than Earl Weaver in 1982. His team lost the division title to the Brewers in the final game of the season in a 10-2 blowout, and the entire crowd remained for a full 15 minutes after the final out to give him a standing ovation.
--------------------------------
How can there be just one manager younger than me, while there are at least three GMs? That just seems weird.
I'm not sure which makes me feel more like the glue factory's around the corner, the fact that there are only two managers older than me, or that there are already two younger ex-Presidents.
Brandon Hyde managed a game too.
Keane didn't retire. He jumped from a championship team to another team, by choice and instantaneously (i.e., no retirement interval like, say, Vermeil).
Walsh was head coach at Stanford after leaving as coach of the 49ers.
Those guys are part of a sub-group of men who chose to step down from their teams after a championship but did not retire (EDIT: for good) from managing/coaching.
Sounds like last year's NLDS, when the Giants, having just won a postseason series, interrupted their pig pile to join the salute to Cox.
Hmmmmm slurred speech joke or bullpen phone joke?
I suspected it might, so I am not entirely surprised by this. LaRussa seemed to be getting tired of the sturm und drang with the media by the end of the year, and there were just a lot of other little signs that indicated to me that he might be about ready to call it a career. I'm not even sure TLR would have come back had the Cardinals lost.
-- MWE
Yep.
Making predictions after the fact is so easy!
I knew someone would say that.
I predicted this yesterday.
I posted it as a lame joke, but on reflection I could sort of see this.
Yes.
Cards fans: Now??? Today??? Can't you just let us enjoy the moment?
TLR: The moment's over.
It's like having a punter as the face of your football video game franchise.
You and Mike Imrem both.
I could, too. However, Pujols would need a grizzled bench coach to help him through the first couple of years. Purely hypothetically, do you think Pujols would leave some money on the table if the DeWitt's really handed him the team and said "Player/manager, and major input in personnel decisions"? I think that would be the sort of respect that would appeal to Pujols.
Brilliant.
On an unrelated topic, today I learned that SoSH U and SoSHially Unacceptable are not necessarily the same person.
Deion Sanders hit .533 in the World Series.
I posted it as a lame joke, but on reflection I could sort of see this.
If that is what it takes for St. Louis to keep him, they should do it.
Great news for Lisa. Now she can root for a nice quality NL Central team without having to like TLR.
- correctamundo
i've got a few more weeks to find out if houston is gonna have a baseball team after the end of the 2012 season - and if not, then i guess it's gonna be saint looey. even though i kind of want to root for braves and pirates too...
In any event, he's got my respect, if not anything resembling my affection. Annoying as he is, he was damned good at what he did.
LaRussa was making $2.8 million/year. Add that to a reasonable if less-than-max Pujols contract, and Albert might sign it.
He plays small-ball too much, calling hit-and-runs at inopportune times.
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