| Tony La Russa | |
|---|---|
 La Russa in 2017 | |
| Infielder /Manager | |
| Born: (1944-10-04)October 4, 1944 (age 81) Tampa, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 10, 1963, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 6, 1973, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .199 |
| Hits | 35 |
| Runs batted in | 7 |
| Managerial record | 2,884–2,499-4 |
| Winning % | .536 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 2014 |
| Vote | 100% |
| Election method | Expansion Era Committee |
Anthony La Russa Jr. (/ləˈruːsə/; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professionalbaseball player, coach, andmanager. HisMajor League Baseball (MLB) career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of theSt. Louis Cardinals,Oakland Athletics, andChicago White Sox. In 35 seasons as amanager, La Russa guided his teams to threeWorld Series titles, six league championships, and 13 division titles. His managerial total of 2,884 MLB wins issecond only toConnie Mack's.
As a player, La Russa made his major league debut in 1963 and spent parts of five major league seasons with theKansas City / Oakland Athletics,Atlanta Braves, andChicago Cubs. After a shoulder injury during the 1964–65 off-season, he returned to college and received a degree from theUniversity of South Florida before playing much of the remainder of his career in theminor leagues until retiring in 1977. He then earned aJuris Doctor degree fromFlorida State University.
Namedmanager of the White Sox in the middle of the 1979 season, La Russa guided the team to anAmerican League West division title four seasons later. In the middle of the 1986 season, he was fired by the White Sox and hired less than three weeks later by the Athletics. La Russa led the A's to three consecutiveAmerican Leaguechampionships from 1988 to 1990 and the1989 World Series title. He left Oakland after the 1995 season to manage the Cardinals, whom he led to threeNational Leaguechampionships and the2006 and2011 World Series titles. La Russa retired after winning the 2011 title and 34 seasons as a major league manager. Three months later, he accepted a position helping fellow former managerJoe Torre, the executive vice president for MLB operations. In 2014, he became the chief baseball officer for theArizona Diamondbacks. In November 2019, he joined theLos Angeles Angels as a senior advisor of baseball operations. In the 2021 offseason, he was named the manager of the White Sox; he retired in 2022 due to health concerns.
In 2013, La Russa was unanimously elected to theHall of Fame by the 16-memberVeterans Committee. The induction ceremony was held atCooperstown, New York, on July 27, 2014.[1] On August 16, 2014, he was inducted into theSt. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum.
Born in Tampa, Florida, on October 4, 1944, to Anthony and Olivia (Cuervo) La Russa, Anthony Jr.'s paternal grandparents had emigrated from Italy (Sicily) and his mother's family from Spain. He was raised in nearbyYbor City, Florida, where his parents had met while they were working in the local cigar factory.[2]
The La Russa family moved toWest Tampa, Florida, where Tony playedAmerican Legion baseball andPONY League baseball alongside teammateLou Piniella.[3][4][5]
After graduating fromJefferson High School in Tampa, La Russa was signed by theKansas City Athletics in June 1962 as a middleinfielder, with a clause that the Athletics pay for his college education at theUniversity of South Florida.[2][6]
La Russa made his major league debut with the Kansas City A's on May 10,1963, after having played 76 games with A's affiliatesBinghamton Triplets andDaytona Beach Islanders in 1962. He spent the entire 1963 season in the majors, as was required by his signing as a "bonus baby".[7] He had suffered an off-season shoulder injury while playingsoftball with friends, and this limited him to only 34 games in 1963, in which he hit .250. The injured shoulder bothered him through the remainder of his playing career.[2]
Over the next six seasons, La Russa spent most of his time in theminor leagues. He made it back up to the A's, which had since moved to Oakland, in 1968 and 1969. He spent the entire 1970 season with the A's, and then late in 1971 the A's traded him to theAtlanta Braves. His final big league playing stop was with theChicago Cubs, where he appeared as apinch runner in one game, on April 6, 1973, scoring the walk-off winning run. He also spent time in the organizations of thePittsburgh Pirates,Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals.
In total, he played 132 major-league games, 40 in the starting lineup. He went 35-for-176, for abatting average of .199. His 23walks pushed hison-base percentage to .292. He had 7RBI and scored 15runs. He made 63 appearances atsecond base, 18 atshortstop, and two atthird base, fielding .960 in 249 total chances and participating in 34double plays.[8]
It was as a player with the A's that La Russa first met catcherDave Duncan, who would join his coaching staff in Chicago in 1983. The two worked together on every La Russa-managed team thereafter, and he often credits Duncan as playing a key role in his success.[9][10]
Having started coursework following his A's signing in 1962, La Russa graduated from theUniversity of South Florida in 1969 with a degree in Industrial Management. He earned aJuris Doctor (J.D.) degree fromFlorida State University College of Law in 1978.[11][2] and was admitted to the Florida Bar on July 30, 1980. He is associated with a Sarasota law firm although he is not eligible to practice at this time.[12] La Russa has been quoted as saying, "I decided I'd rather ride the buses in the minor leagues than practice law for a living." Shortly before graduating from FSU College of Law, La Russa spoke with one of his professors about his post-graduation plans, indicating to his professor that he had an opportunity to coach in the minor leagues and asking his professor what he should do. La Russa's professor responded, "Grow up, you're an adult now, you're going to be a lawyer."[13]
He is one of a select number of major league managers in baseball history who have graduated from law school or passed a state bar exam; others includeJames Henry O'Rourke (Buffalo Bisons, 1881–84, Washington Senators, 1893),John Montgomery Ward (New York Giants, Brooklyn and Providence, late 1800s),Hughie Jennings (Detroit, 1907–20, New York Giants, 1924),Miller Huggins (St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, 1913–29),Muddy Ruel (St. Louis Browns, 1947),Jack Hendricks (St. Louis Cardinals, 1918, Cincinnati, 1924–29), andBranch Rickey (St. Louis Browns, 1913–15, St. Louis Cardinals, 1919–25).[14]
La Russa creditsLoren Babe andPaul Richards of the White Sox organization for helping him to become a manager.[15] The White Sox gave La Russa his first managerial opportunity in 1978 by naming him skipper of their Double-A affiliate, theKnoxville Sox of theSouthern League. La Russa spent a half-season at Knoxville before being promoted to the White Soxcoaching staff when ownerBill Veeck changed managers fromBob Lemon toLarry Doby. Doby was fired at the end of the season;Don Kessinger, former starshortstop of the crosstown Cubs, was named the White Sox' player-manager for 1979, and La Russa was named manager of the Triple-AIowa Oaks of theAmerican Association, choosing to manage in the minors after the White Sox had offered him his same major league coaching role.[2]
The White Sox fired Kessinger with a 46–60 record two-thirds of the way through the 1979 season and replaced him with La Russa. The White Sox played .500 baseball (27–27) for the rest of the 1979 campaign. LaRussa, at 34, was the youngest manager in the major leagues.[2] La Russa was named American League Manager of the Year in 1983, when his club won the AL West but fell to theBaltimore Orioles in theAmerican League Championship Series.
The White Sox fired La Russa after the club got off to a 26–38 start in 1986. In 1986, general managerRoland Hemond, who had hired La Russa as White Sox manager, was replaced by the White Sox' broadcasterKen Harrelson as general manager. Harrelson then fired both La Russa and coachDave Duncan during the season. Ironically, Harrelson and La Russa were teammates at Binghamton in 1962.[16] In later years, White Sox OwnerJerry Reinsdorf expressed regret for allowing La Russa to be fired.[17][2] La Russa finished his first White Sox career with a 522–510 regular season record and a 1–3 postseason record, but added another 156–134 record in 2021–2022.[18] Decades later, Hemond said of La Russa: "Tony La Russa is one of the most brilliant managers that I ever encountered in my baseball career. He saw things other people didn't see. There were some managers who thought he was out of line with what he was trying to do, but later on they had to respect him because it was working. There's no question he changed the way the game is played."[2] La Russa is also commonly credited for the advent of the modern specialized bullpen.[19]
La Russa had a break of less than three weeks before his old club, the Athletics, called him to take over as manager. La Russa and Duncan both joined the A's, inheriting a team that was 31–52 and in 7th place. They went 45–34 the rest of the season to finish in 3rd place in 1986.[20][2]
La Russa managed the Oakland A's to three consecutiveAmerican League Pennants andWorld Series appearances from 1988 to 1990. The A's lost the1988 World Series to managerTommy Lasorda and theLos Angeles Dodgers. The following year, the A's swept theearthquake-delayed Bay Area1989 World Series against theSan Francisco Giants. In their third consecutive appearance, the favored A's faced managerLou Piniella, LaRussa's childhood teammate and friend, and hisCincinnati Reds in the1990 World Series. The A's were swept in the series. In both 1988 and 1990 the A's had swept theBoston Red Sox 4–0 in the ALCS, after winning 100 and 99 games respectively. The 1988 World Series was made famous by theKirk Gibson game-winning home run off of A's closerDennis Eckersley.[21][22][23] La Russa earned two American League Manager of the Year awards with the A's, in 1988 and 1992, giving him three AL awards, the latter after again winning the Western Division.
After the 1995 season, in which the A's finished 67–77, the Haas family, with whom La Russa had a close personal relationship, sold the team after the death of patriarchWalter A. Haas, Jr. In the off-season, La Russa left Oakland to take over for the firedJoe Torre as manager of theSt. Louis Cardinals. La Russa had a 798–673 regular season record and a 19–13 postseason record with Oakland.[18]
In his first campaign with the Cardinalsin 1996, the team clinched theNational League Central division title (and also finishedNational League runner-up), a feat his clubs repeated in2000,2001,2002,2004,2005,2006, and2009. The Cardinals also tied for the National League Central crown with theHouston Astros in 2001. In 2002, La Russa became the first manager to win the Manager of the Year award four times. His fourth award was arguably the most emotional; La Russa led the Cardinals to theNational League Championship Series (where they ultimately lost in five games to theSan Francisco Giants) in a year in which the Cardinals were traumatized by the deaths of belovedHall of Fame broadcasterJack Buck and 33-year-oldpitcherDarryl Kile just four days later. On September 10, 2003, he won his 2,000th career game as a manager against theColorado Rockies, becoming the seventh to reach the mark inMajor League Baseball.[24]
The 2004 team played one of the finest seasons in Cardinals' history, as they won 105 games. After a regular season in which the Cardinals led the NL in runs scored (855) while allowing the fewest (659), La Russa's Cardinals defeated theLos Angeles Dodgers in theNational League Division Series, 3 games to 1.[25][26] St. Louis then took on theHouston Astros in theNational League Championship Series. In a tense series with opposingpitcherRoger Clemens at the top of his game, Cardinalsthird basemanScott Rolen hit a game-winning two-runhome run off Clemens in Game 7 followingJim Edmonds' rally saving catch.[27] This home run sent the Cardinals to theWorld Series for the first time since 1987. However, they were swept in four games by a historicBoston Red Sox team that had just surmounted a3–0 deficit against theNew York Yankees and captured their first championship since 1918.[28]
In2006, the Cardinals returned to theWorld Series, this time with a 4–1 victory over theDetroit Tigers. The team's 83–78 regular season record is the worst ever by an eventual World Series champion, usurping the1987 Minnesota Twins' 85–77 campaign. La Russa became the secondmanager to win aWorld Series in both theAmerican League andNational League – a distinction shared with his mentorSparky Anderson.
When he came to St. Louis, La Russa wore number 10 to symbolize the team's drive to their 10th championship and pay tribute to Anderson, who wore number 10 while manager of theCincinnati Reds.[29] After winning the championship, he chose to continue wearing number 10 to pay tribute to Anderson.[30]
La Russa led theCardinals to the2011 World Series, after defeating thePhiladelphia Phillies in theNLDS (3–2), and then theMilwaukee Brewers in theNLCS (4–2). The Cardinals defeated theTexas Rangers in Game 7 of theWorld Series to win the franchise's 11th World Championship, and the third of La Russa's managerial career. He passedBobby Cox for 2nd place on the all-time postseason wins list with his 68th win in Game 3.[31] Three days following the World Series win, La Russa announced his retirement, ranking second all-time in postseason wins with 70, third all-time with 2,728 regular season wins, second with 5,097 games managed, and second with 33 years (tied) managing withJohn McGraw. He finished his Cardinals career with a 1408–1182 regular season record and 50–42 postseason record.[18]
La Russa also became the first manager in Major League Baseball history to retire in the same season after winning a World Series title.[32] Even though he had retired, La Russa managed the National League All Stars in the2012 MLB All-Star Game for the final time as a member of the Cardinals.[33] TheNational League won 8–0.
After serving in various executive roles for MLB and for several teams, La Russa was announced as the manager of the White Sox on October 29, 2020, replacingRick Renteria.[34] At 76, La Russa became the oldest manager in MLB.[35] He also became the first manager in baseball history to return to managing after being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager.[36] (Connie Mack was elected in 1937, before his retirement).A. J. Hinch was known to be another finalist, but was hired by theDetroit Tigers instead when the White Sox decided on La Russa.[37]
On June 6, 2021, La Russa passedJohn McGraw for second place in all-time managerial wins. La Russa led the White Sox to their first AL Central division title since 2008; it was La Russa's 13th division title as a manager. They lost to theHouston Astros in the2021 ALDS in four games.[38]
In 2022, at 77 years of age, La Russa was the oldest manager in major league baseball, four years older thanDusty Baker.[39] The 2022 season proved to be a tough one for both the White Sox and La Russa. On June 9, La Russa faced criticism for a late-game decision that backfired on him. The White Sox were trailing 7–5 to theLos Angeles Dodgers and the Dodgers had a runner on second base in the top of the 6th inning. With a count of 1–2 onTrea Turner, La Russa issued an intentional walk on Turner to send him to first base. The decision immediately backfired as the next batter,Max Muncy, hit a home run just a few pitches later that made the score 10–5 in an eventual win for the Dodgers. La Russa defended his decision saying "that wasn't a tough call" and that he would do it again.[40] A month later, La Russa did in fact do it again on August 19 against theCleveland Guardians, when he issued an intentional walk onOscar González with a 1–2 count, this time down by three runs in the bottom of the 7th, although it did not result in a subsequent home run.[41] On August 30, La Russa, under the advice of a cardiologist he had seen about his heart, elected to not manage the impending game versus Kansas City. The next day, he went further testing and received an advisement to see a heart specialist. On that same day, the White Sox announced that La Russa was out indefinitely, with bench coachMiguel Cairo taking over as interim manager. At that point, the White Sox were 63–65.[42] On October 3, La Russa announced that he was retiring effective immediately.[43]
As of games played on August 26, 2022.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CWS | 1979 | 54 | 27 | 27 | .500 | 5th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1980 | 160 | 70 | 90 | .438 | 5th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1981 | 106 | 54 | 52 | .509 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1982 | 162 | 87 | 75 | .537 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1983 | 162 | 99 | 63 | .611 | 1st in AL West | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostALCS (BAL) |
| CWS | 1984 | 162 | 74 | 88 | .457 | 5th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1985 | 162 | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CWS | 1986 | 64 | 26 | 38 | .406 | Fired | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1986 | 79 | 45 | 34 | .570 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1987 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 3rd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1988 | 162 | 104 | 58 | .642 | 1st in AL West | 5 | 4 | .556 | LostWorld Series (LAD) |
| OAK | 1989 | 162 | 99 | 63 | .611 | 1st in AL West | 8 | 1 | .889 | WonWorld Series (SF) |
| OAK | 1990 | 162 | 103 | 59 | .636 | 1st in AL West | 4 | 4 | .500 | LostWorld Series (CIN) |
| OAK | 1991 | 162 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1992 | 162 | 96 | 66 | .593 | 1st in AL West | 2 | 4 | .333 | LostALCS (TOR) |
| OAK | 1993 | 162 | 68 | 94 | .420 | 7th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1994 | 114 | 51 | 63 | .447 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1995 | 144 | 67 | 77 | .465 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK total | 1,471 | 798 | 673 | .542 | 19 | 13 | .594 | |||
| STL | 1996 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 1st in NL Central | 6 | 4 | .600 | LostNLCS (ATL) |
| STL | 1997 | 162 | 73 | 89 | .451 | 4th in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1998 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 3rd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1999 | 161 | 75 | 86 | .466 | 4th in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 2000 | 162 | 95 | 67 | .586 | 1st in NL Central | 4 | 4 | .500 | LostNLCS (NYM) |
| STL | 2001 | 162 | 93 | 69 | .574 | 2nd in NL Central | 2 | 3 | .400 | LostNLDS (ARI) |
| STL | 2002 | 162 | 97 | 65 | .599 | 1st in NL Central | 4 | 4 | .500 | LostNLCS (SF) |
| STL | 2003 | 162 | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3rd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 2004 | 162 | 105 | 57 | .648 | 1st in NL Central | 7 | 8 | .467 | LostWorld Series (BOS) |
| STL | 2005 | 162 | 100 | 62 | .617 | 1st in NL Central | 5 | 4 | .556 | LostNLCS (HOU) |
| STL | 2006 | 161 | 83 | 78 | .516 | 1st in NL Central | 11 | 5 | .688 | WonWorld Series (DET) |
| STL | 2007 | 162 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 3rd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 2008 | 162 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 4th in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 2009 | 162 | 91 | 71 | .562 | 1st in NL Central | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostNLDS (LAD) |
| STL | 2010 | 162 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 2nd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 2011 | 162 | 90 | 72 | .556 | 2nd in NL Central | 11 | 7 | .611 | WonWorld Series (TEX) |
| STL total | 2,591 | 1,408 | 1,182 | .544 | 50 | 42 | .543 | |||
| CWS | 2021 | 162 | 93 | 69 | .574 | 1st in AL Central | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostALDS (HOU) |
| CWS | 2022 | 128 | 63 | 65 | .492 | 3rd in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CWS total | 1,322 | 678 | 644 | .513 | 2 | 6 | .250 | |||
| Total[18] | 5,387 | 2,884 | 2,499 | .536 | 71 | 61 | .538 | |||
Shortly after his retirement from the playing field, La Russa took a position with MLB assisting former managerial rival Joe Torre in matters of on-field discipline. He held this position for more than two seasons.
On May 17, 2014, La Russa accepted a position as Chief Baseball Officer for theArizona Diamondbacks to oversee the entire baseball operations department.[44][45][46]
After joining the Diamondbacks in 2014, La Russa was reunited with former assistants Duncan and McKay, and the general manager who hired him to manage the White Sox in 1979,Roland Hemond.[46] On December 4, 2015, the Diamondbacks agreed to a six-year contract withfree agent pitcherZack Greinke worth a total of $206.5 million. At that time, it held the highest annual average value in MLB, exceeding $34.4 million per year, and was also the largest contract by total value in team history.[47] La Russa was demoted to Chief Baseball Analyst/Advisor with the Diamondbacks following a disappointing 93-loss season in 2016, which also resulted in the firing of general managerDave Stewart and managerChip Hale. Following the 2017 season, La Russa resigned.[48]
In November 2017, theBoston Red Sox announced that La Russa had joined the team as vice president and special assistant toDave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations.[49] In making the announcement, the Red Sox indicated that La Russa would assist with player development, serve as an advisor to the team's coaches at the major and minor league levels, and serve as a consultant forAlex Cora, the team's major league manager.[50] La Russa worked with the Red Sox for two seasons, and after Dombrowski was released by the Red Sox during the 2019 season, theLos Angeles Angels hired La Russa as senior adviser for baseball operations in November 2019.[51] In 2023, he returned to the White Sox as an advisor.[52]
La Russais second in major league history in victories as a manager (2,884), trailing onlyConnie Mack (3,731) and surpassingJohn McGraw (2,763) on June 6, 2021. He managed 5,097 games, joining Mack as the second manager or coach in American sports history to reach 5,000 games.[53][54][55] In 2004, he became the sixth manager in history to win pennants with bothAmerican andNational League teams; in 2006 he became the first manager ever to win multiple pennants in both leagues and the second manager to win theWorld Series in both leagues. La Russa has also joined Mack as the second manager to win World Series titles in three decades and to win pennants in four. He is one of only four managers to be namedManager of the Year in both of baseball's major leagues.
La Russa is the winningest manager inSt. Louis Cardinals history, with 1,408 wins and 1,182 losses (.544) and one tie, managing the Cardinals from 1996 to 2011. He was 522–510–3 (.506) with theChicago White Sox 1979–1986, leading the club to its first postseason appearance in 24 years in 1983, and 798–673 (.542) with theOakland Athletics 1986–1995, winning three consecutive AL pennants from 1988 to 1990; he also holds the record for victories by an Athletics manager since the franchise relocated to Oakland in 1968.
La Russa became the leader in wins by Cardinals' managers on August 31, 2007, when the Cardinals defeated theCincinnati Reds 8–5, passingRed Schoendienst (1,041–955) to take the title. He managed his 2,500th win against theRoyals atKansas City on June 21, 2009, becoming only the third manager to attain that win level after Mack and McGraw.[56][57]
After the retirement ofAtlanta Braves managerBobby Cox in 2010, La Russa was the longest tenured manager in Major League Baseball, and with the resignation of longtimeNBAhead coachJerry Sloan from theUtah Jazz on February 10, 2011, La Russa had been the longest tenured bench boss among all theBig Four sports leagues, until his retirement following his 2011 World Series victory with the Cardinals.
La Russa became eligible as a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 through voting by the Expansion Era Committee for induction in 2014. On November 4, 2013, La Russa's inclusion on the Expansion Era ballot was announced with fellow former CardinalsTed Simmons,Joe Torre andDan Quisenberry. TheBaseball Writers' Association of America's Historical Overview Committee listed the candidates on the ballot and voted the following December 8.[58] La Russa was inducted into the 2014 Hall of Fame class as a manager.[59]
In January 2014, the Cardinals announced La Russa among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into theSt. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of2014.[60]
In 2012, he became the second manager to manage the All-Star Game (2012) after retiring sinceJohn McGraw in1933. With his All-Star Game 8–0 win inKansas City, he became the first manager to win an All-Star Game in both leagues.[61]
| Title | Times | Dates | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Leaguechampion | 3 | 1988,1989,1990 | |
| National Leaguechampion | 3 | 2004,2006,2011 | |
| World Serieschampion | 3 | 1989,2006,2011 |
La Russa and his second wife, Elaine, are the founders of Tony La Russa'sAnimal Rescue Foundation, headquartered inWalnut Creek, California, which saves abandoned and injured animals as well as running programs to bring dogs and cats to abused children, hospital patients, seniors and shut-ins. La Russa is a vegetarian.[62] The La Russas have two daughters, Bianca and Devon, and reside inAlamo, California.
La Russa has two older daughters, Andrea and Averie, from his first marriage to Luzette Sarcone. La Russa and Sarcone divorced in 1973 and Sarcone received full custody of their daughters. La Russa married Elaine Coker shortly after his divorce to Sarcone became official.[63]
La Russa is also personal friends with celebrities outside the sports world, such as pianist and songwriterBruce Hornsby,Bruce Springsteen, jazz bassistChristian McBride, and heavy metal musicianRobb Flynn from the bandMachine Head.[citation needed] In 2007, at a concert in San Francisco on La Russa's birthday, Hornsby played a comedic song he named "Hooray For Tony". The original song, titled "Hooray For Tom", is La Russa's favorite Hornsby song. In the "Hooray For Tony" version, Hornsby mentions the "Bash Brothers"Mark McGwire andJosé Canseco (from La Russa's days as the manager of the Oakland A's),Albert Pujols,Jim Edmonds, ARF, and La Russa's World Series Championships.[citation needed]
La Russa is a graduate of theUniversity of South Florida (Bachelor of Arts inindustrial management, 1969) and the Florida State University College of Law (Juris Doctor, 1978).[64][65]
La Russa has Italian and Spanish ancestry, and speaks fluent Spanish.[66][67][68] His father's parents were migrants from the Italian island ofSicily and his mother's family originated from Spain.[69] Having a father who could speak Spanish and Italian and a mother who could speak Spanish, La Russa claimed in a 2008 interview that "Spanish was my first language".[69] He was inducted into theNational Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.[66] La Russa was also inducted into theHispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on April 11, 2008, in a pregame ceremony atAT&T Park.[68]
La Russa and his family had an uncreditedextra role in the filmAngels in the Outfield. The La Russas also made an appearance in an episode ofHousecat Housecall, a reality show onAnimal Planet presented byPurina Cat Chow, during the show's third season, which began on June 5, 2010.[citation needed] In 1980, La Russa appeared as a contestant on the game showTo Tell The Truth, and helped fool the celebrity panel.[70]
In June 2010, La Russa was asked about atea party protest taking place during his game against theArizona Diamondbacks that criticized the Diamondbacks' position against thecontroversial new Arizona immigration statute. La Russa expressed support for theTea Partiers' right tofree speech to protest at the ballpark. He also stated, "I'm actually a supporter of what Arizona is doing... you know if people don't fix their problems they have to take care of it themselves".[71]
La Russa and Pujols attendedGlenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally on August 28, 2010, in Washington, D.C., while the Cardinals were in town for a series against theWashington Nationals.[72] La Russa decided to attend after being told by Beck that the rally was not political in nature.[73]
Throughout the2011 season, La Russa struggled withshingles. He originally disclosed that it wasconjunctivitis, however, on May 10, after a visit to theMayo Clinic (Scottsdale, Arizona), he disclosed that he was dealing with a case of shingles, and had to take off a few days for treatment and rest.[74] Because bench coachJoe Pettini was named 'acting manager' instead of 'interim manager', La Russa was credited for all wins and losses during his absence.[75]
On June 4, 2009, theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that La Russa had sued the online social network platformTwitter the previous month for a fake page established under his name on the site. La Russa claimed that he had "suffered significant emotional distress (and) damage to reputation" because of the profile. The fake profile made several "distasteful references" to La Russa and his team, according to the suit.[76] Twitter's terms of service forbids impersonation directly, stating that users "may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others."[77] Reports that Twitter had settled ("the first celebrity lawsuit against the 32-million-user site", according to theWall Street Journal) were rebuffed on the official Twitter blog. La Russa eventually filed a request to dismiss the suit, while Twitter, whether in regard to the suit or not, continued improving its privacy protections.[78]
In May 2014, La Russa served as theWashington University in St. Louis commencement speaker.[79]
On March 22, 2007, La Russa was arrested inJupiter, Florida, for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was found asleep at the wheel of his runningSUV with the car in park at an intersection. He was booked at thePalm Beach County Jail and blew a .093blood alcohol content, above the legal limit of .08.[80] Calling his arrest on theDUI charge an "embarrassment", La Russa apologized to "anyone who is close to me, members of the Cardinals organization, our fans." He was defended by the organization and some players, such asAlbert Pujols. On November 28, 2007, La Russa pleadedguilty to DUI, saying that it was in the best interest of all concerned. In a statement released by his attorney, La Russa said, "I accept full responsibility for my conduct, and assure everyone that I have learned a very valuable lesson and that this will never occur again".
In February 2020, La Russa was charged with DUI again, this time in Phoenix; the case was filed on October 28, 2020, a day before he was rehired by the White Sox.[81]
By 2022, his last season as a manager, La Russa was diagnosed with cancer, and had lingering issues with hispacemaker.[82]
In 1980, La Russa appeared as the subject in a round of theRobin Ward-hosted version ofTo Tell The Truth. PanelistNipsey Russell seemed perplexed that there was another Chicago baseball team besides the Cubs. One of the imposters before the panel, when queried as to who was his best player at the moment, swiftly respondedTodd Cruz. This resulted in him receiving votes. But he did not completely stump the panel.
In 2012, La Russa released hisNew York Times bestselling memoir,One Last Strike, which recounts his legendary last season as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and their remarkable journey to becoming the 2011 World Series Champions from ten and a half games back.[83]
In 2005, La Russa was the focus of a book by sportswriterBuzz Bissinger. Bissinger'sThree Nights in August delves into La Russa's role as manager during a 3-game series in 2003 between his Cardinals and managerDusty Baker's Chicago Cubs,their longtime rivals. The book received much praise from both fans and critics, though some complained that Bissinger sets out to glorify La Russa's "old school" managerial style as a direct challenge to the statistical analysis theses of Michael Lewis's 2004 bookMoneyball.
AsDavid Leonhardt ofThe New York Times wrote of the "stats vs. hunches" debate in anAugust 29, 2005 piece,"what makes this fight truly comparable to those that periodically roil the world of art history or foreign policy is that the differences between the sides are not as great as the sniping between them suggests. La Russa spends much of his time jotting down information on index cards and studying statistics in his office."
George Will's bookMen at Work likewise depicted La Russa and his long-time pitching coach Dave Duncan as making more use of statistical analysis than any other team in the major leagues (this book was published in 1990, more than a decade before theMoneyball revolution).
La Russa also provided theAI for a series of successfulvideo games,Tony La Russa Baseball (1991–1997). The games won numerous awards and featured "new" statistics selected with La Russa (and provided by prominentsabermetrics authorsJohn Thorn andPete Palmer) as tools for players as they managed their teams.
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