Tony LaRussa
From BR Bullpen
Anthony LaRussa Jr.
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
Contents |
[edit] Biographical Information
Tony LaRussa's major league career as a player is not much remembered. He broke into the majors at the age of 18, and appeared in six major league seasons over the space of 10 years, hitting .199 lifetime.
LaRussa grew up in Tampa, FL, near to where Al Lopez lived. He was friends with Lou Piniella. He was in the Colt League World Series as a teenager. Toward the end of his major league playing career, he became impressed with Dick Williams' approach to managing. He became a player-coach for number of years in the minors, and then a minor league manager at Knoxville in 1978. Source: From a 2006 article in Coach and Athletic Director.
LaRussa also managed the Iowa Oaks in 1979 until Aug 2nd.
LaRussa has managed in the big leagues every year since 1979. In June 1986, he was fired by the Chicago White Sox when their GM was Hawk Harrelson, but he was named manager of the Oakland Athletics the following month. He was hired by the Cardinals before the 1996 season. In his ten years with the Cardinals, they have been in the playoffs six times, and won the National League pennant in 2004.
On August 25, 2005, LaRussa won his 2195th game and passed Sparky Anderson to move into third place on the all-time wins list behind Connie Mack and John McGraw. LaRussa moved into third-place all-time in MLB games managed on August 20, 2007, passing Bucky Harris. Heading into 2007, his teams had been MLB's winningest team in the regular season six different times, but he only had seven losing seasons in his 26 complete seasons as skipper.
Away from the diamond, LaRussa is also an attorney. He graduated from Florida State's law school in 1978, and passed the bar exam the next year. LaRussa's biography at mlb.com claims that each of LaRussa's four predecessor lawyer-managers at the major league level are in the Hall of Fame. This is not true, though, as Judge Fuchs is not in the Hall.
On March 22, 2007, Tony was arrested for drunk driving in Jupiter, FL, when he was found asleep at the wheel of his SUV at a stop light. LaRussa had his foot on the brake and the vehicle was in drive. His blood alcohol content was 0.093 percent. LaRussa apologized and said he took full responsibility.
"If you think about it seriously, there is no way that you can apply Moneyball-type analysis to people that are involved in a competition against other people. The basis of Moneyball is very important . . . But . . . the individuals that are competing literally change from day to day . . . they sometimes change within the game itself." - Tony LaRussa
[edit] LaRussa's Managerial Record
- White Sox: 1979-1986 (Part of eight seasons, all of six seasons: 1980-85)
- Overall: 522-510 (.506)
- Playoff results:
- 1983
- Lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, 1-3
- 1983
- Playoff results:
- A's: 1986-1995 (Part of ten seasons, all of nine seasons: 1987-1995)
- Overall: 798-673 (.542)
- Playoff results:
- 1988
- Defeated the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, 4-0
- Lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, 1-4
- 1989
- Defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, 4-1
- Defeated the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, 4-0
- 1990
- Defeated the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, 4-0
- Lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, 0-4
- 1992
- Lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, 2-4
- 1988
- Playoff results:
- Playoff notes:
- The 1989 series is notable for having been disrupted by an earthquake in the San Francisco area. Both Oakland and San Francisco were affected.
- The 1988-1990 Oakland teams LaRussa managed combined for a 306-180 record (.630). This is the best three year stretch of LaRussa's career. His second best stretch is his 2003-2005 Cardinals teams which went 290-196 (.597) - sixteen games worse than 1988-90.
- Playoff notes:
- Cardinals: 1996-2005 (Ten full seasons)
- Overall: 894-725 (.552)
- Playoff results:
- 1996
- Defeated the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, 3-0
- Lost to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, 3-4
- 2000
- Defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, 3-0
- Lost to the New York Mets in the NLCS, 1-4
- 2001
- Lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS, 2-3
- 2002
- Defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS, 3-0
- Lost to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS, 1-4
- 2004
- Defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, 3-1
- Defeated the Houston Astros in the NLCS, 4-3
- Lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, 0-4
- 2005
- Defeated the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, 3-0
- Lost to the Houston Astros in the NLCS, 2-4
- 1996
- Playoff results:
- Playoff totals:
- White Sox:
- ALCS: 0-1 (games: 1-3)
- A's:
- ALCS: 3-0 (games: 12-1)
- World Series: 1-2 (games: 5-8)
- Cardinals:
- NLDS: 5-1 (games: 19-4)
- NLCS: 1-4 (games: 11-19)
- World Series: 0-1 (games: 0-4)
- Total:
- ALDS/NLDS: 5-1 (games: 19-4)
- ALCS/NLCS: 4-5 (games: 24-23)
- World Series: 1-3 (games: 5-12)
- Overall: 10-9 (games: 48-39)
[edit] Year-By-Year Managerial Record
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 4-time Manager of the Year Award (1983/AL, 1988/AL, 1992/AL & 2002/NL)
- Division Titles: 11 (1983, 1988-1990, 1996, 2000, 2002 & 2004-2006)
- Other Post-season Appearances: 1 (2001 Wild Card)
- AL Pennants: 3 (1988-1990)
- NL Pennants: 2 (2004 & 2006)
- Managed two World Series Champions with the Oakland Athletics in 1989 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006
- 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 4 (1988, 1990, 2004 & 2005)
| Preceded by Don Kessinger | Chicago White Sox Manager 1979-1986 | Succeeded by Jim Fregosi |
| Preceded by Jeff Newman | Oakland Athletics Manager 1986-1995 | Succeeded by Art Howe |
| Preceded by Mike Jorgensen | St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1996- | Succeeded by Current |
[edit] Further Reading
- Buzz Bissinger, Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 2005.
- George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, Macmillan, New York, 1990.
