Tony La Russa Baseball [SEP] developer
Tony La Russa Baseball


Tony La Russa Baseball is a baseball computer and video game console sports game series (1991-1997), designed by Don Daglow, Michael Breen, Mark Buchignani, David Bunnett and Hudson Piehl and developed by Stormfront Studios. The game appeared on Commodore 64, PC, and Sega Genesis, and different versions were published by Electronic Arts, SSI and Stormfront Studios. The artificial intelligence for the computer manager was provided by Tony La Russa, then manager of the Oakland Athletics and later the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was
20524760
Tony La Russa Baseball


recreation of the 1990 Major League Baseball season, but criticized the incomplete rosters. The magazine stating that the game "still falls short of its potential ... "TLRUB" may be a bit closer to the "ultimate" with these disks, but it's not there yet". The magazine nonetheless that year named "Tony La Russa's Ultimate Baseball" as 1992's best sports game. "Computer Gaming World" in 1993 stated that "Tony La Russa Baseball 2" was especially strong in league play. Although citing
20524763
Tony La Russa Baseball


Tony La Russa's Ultimate Baseball", was released almost exactly twenty years after the first playable version of "Baseball" went live at Pomona College in 1971. "Tony La Russa Ultimate Baseball" sold 85,684 copies, becoming SSI's most successful non-AD&D game. "Computer Gaming World" in 1991 praised its VGA graphics, and concluded that the game "packs a tremendous amount into a single box". A 1992 review by the same author of expansion disks was less favorable. It praised the accuracy of a
20524762
Tony La Russa


, Harrelson and La Russa were teammates at Binghamton in 1962. In later years, White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf expressed regret for allowing La Russa to be fired. He finished his White Sox career with a 522–510 regular season record and a 1–3 postseason record. Decades later, Hemond would say 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
7365325
Tony La Russa


2014, he was inducted into the St. 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 Sicily and his mother’s family from Spain. He was raised in Ybor City, where his parents had met while both were working in the local cigar factory. Growing up, The La Russa family later moved to West Tampa, where Tony played American Legion baseball and PONY League baseball alongside
7365314
Tony La Russa


MLB, exceeding $34.4 million per year, and was also the largest contract by total value in team history. 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 Manager Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale. Following the 2017 season, La Russa resigned. In November 2017, the Boston Red Sox announced that La Russa had joined the team as vice president and special assistant to Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations.
7365338
Tony La Russa Baseball


one of the best-selling baseball franchises of the 1990s. The game was based on the baseball simulation methods Daglow evolved through the "Baseball" mainframe computer game (1971) (the first computer baseball game ever written), "Intellivision World Series Baseball" (1983) and "Earl Weaver Baseball" (1987). "TLB" refined many of the simulation elements of "Earl Weaver Baseball", and introduced a few "firsts" of its own: The first version of "La Russa", "
20524761
Tony La Russa


2014, La Russa accepted a position as Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks to oversee the entire baseball operations department. 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. On December 4, 2015, the Diamondbacks agreed to a six-year contract with free agent pitcher Zack Greinke worth a total of $206.5 million. At that time, it held the highest annual average value in
7365337
Tony La Russa


" He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. La Russa was also inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on April 11, 2008 in a pregame ceremony at AT&T Park. La Russa and his family had an uncredited extra role in the film "Angels in the Outfield". The La Russas also made an appearance in an episode of "Housecat Housecall", a reality show on Animal Planet presented by Purina Cat Chow, during the show's third season, which began
7365349
Tony La Russa


Anthony La Russa, Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox and a former American professional baseball player. He's currently vice president and special assistant to Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to the present. In 33 years as a manager, La Russa guided his teams to three World Series titles, six league championships and twelve division titles. His 2,728 wins is third
7365310
Tony La Russa Baseball


several bugs and stating that the action game "is not as clean as it should be", the magazine concluded that "this is quite simply the "best" baseball game on the market". A reviewer for "Electronic Gaming Monthly" gave "La Russa Baseball '95" a 70%, commenting that "The controls for the pitcher and the batter need some work. Animations of players are neat, but they slow down a bit. An okay revision from last year." In 1996, "Computer
20524764
Tony La Russa


head coach Jerry Sloan from the Utah Jazz on February 10, 2011, La Russa had been the longest tenured bench boss among all the Big 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 Cardinals Ted Simmons, Joe Torre and Dan Quisenberry
7365343
Tony La Russa


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. In 1980, La Russa appeared as the subject in a round of the Robin Ward-hosted version of "To Tell The Truth". Panelist Nipsey 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
7365356
Old Time Baseball


Old Time Baseball is a baseball computer personal computer game (1995) designed and programmed by Don Daglow, Hudson Piehl, Clay Dreslough and James Grove. The game appeared on the PC and was developed and published by Stormfront Studios. The game was based on the "Tony La Russa Baseball" engine, and was an extension of the baseball simulation methods Daglow evolved through the "Baseball" mainframe computer game (1971) (the first computer baseball game ever written), "Intellivision World Series Baseball" (1983) and
2187481
Tony La Russa


, 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 and José 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. La Russa
7365347
Tony La Russa


La Russa led the A's to three consecutive World Series appearances from 1988 to 1990. His A's swept the earthquake-delayed Bay AreaSeries from the San Francisco Giants in 1989. In 1988 and 1990, La Russa's Athletics lost the World Series to the Tommy Lasorda managed Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds, whose manager Lou Piniella was his youth baseball manager. The 1988 A's lost 4 games to 1 to the Dodgers and the 1990 A's were swept 4 games to 0 by the Reds, despite the
7365327
Tony La Russa


. The Baseball Writers' Association of America's Historical Overview Committee listed the candidates on the ballot and voted the following December 8. La Russa was inducted into the 2014 Hall of Fame class as a manager. In January, 2014, the Cardinals announced La Russa among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of 2014. In 2012, he became the second manager to manage the All-Star Game (2012) after retiring since John McGraw in 1933
7365344
Cybersquatting


Russa, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, filed a complaint against Twitter, accusing Twitter of cybersquatting. The dispute centered on a Twitter profile that used La Russa's name, had a picture of La Russa, and had a headline that said "Hey there! Tony La Russa is now using Twitter." The profile encouraged users to "join today to start receiving Tony La Russa's updates." According to La Russa, the status updates were vulgar and derogatory. La Russa argued that the author of the
17178640
Tony La Russa


La Russa became the leader in wins by Cardinals' managers on August 31, 2007, when the Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8–5, passing Red Schoendienst (1,041–955) to take the title. He managed his 2,500th win against the Royals at Kansas City on June 21, 2009, becoming only the third manager to attain that win level after Mack and McGraw. After the retirement of Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox in 2010, La Russa was the longest tenured manager in Major League Baseball, and with the resignation of longtime NBA
7365342
Intellivision World Series Baseball


Series Baseball". This set the stage for the EA Sports product line. In the early and mid-1990s, Daglow led the development of the "Tony La Russa Baseball" games, further refining baseball simulations. "Intellivision World Series Baseball" displayed the batter and pitcher from a "center field camera" view. One player chose the pitch type, while the player batting chose when to swing when to take a pitch, and whether or not to bunt. Once the ball was hit, the game switched to a "
17492638
Tony La Russa


manager in Major League Baseball history to retire in the same season after winning a World Series title. Even though he had retired, La Russa managed the National League All Stars in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game for the final time in his managerial career. The National League won 8–0. 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,
7365336
2009 St. Louis Cardinals season


In that same game Carpenter pitched (Oct 1, 2009), Tony La Russa passed John McGraw for second-most games managed in baseball with his 4,770th game managed (2,552-2,214-4). La Russa gets three more games (October 4) to extend his managed games to 4,773 (2,552-2,217-4) by the end of the 2009 season. The next night, a bullpen collapse robbed Adam Wainwright of his chance to be the only 20-game winner in baseball, but Wainwright still finished as the
10573086
Tony La Russa


. With his All-Star Game 8–0 win in Kansas City, he became the first manager to win an All-Star Game in both leagues. La Russa and second wife, Elaine, are the founders of Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation, headquartered in Walnut 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. The La Russas have two daughters, Bianca &
7365345
Closer (baseball)


75 percent of the time in that situation. Using the save leader from each team in the league, the average closer made his appearances in the beginning of the ninth inning 10 percent of the time in the 1970s to almost of the time by 2004. Tony La Russa while with the Oakland Athletics is frequently named as the innovator of the position, making Dennis Eckersley the first player to be used almost exclusively in ninth inning situations. La Russa explained that "[the Oakland A's would] be ahead a large number
9065548
Baseball in the Tampa Bay Area


came out of the leagues of Ybor City in the early 20th century. Since then, many current and former major league players and managers such as Lou Piniella, Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez, Dwight Gooden, Howard Johnson, Brad Radke, Craig Lefferts, Tony La Russa, Matt Joyce, Chone Figgins, Ryan Raburn, Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and Steve Garvey (among many others) have gotten their start on local baseball programs around the area. The Tampa Baseball Museum is being developed
624526
Tony La Russa


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 for Alex Cora, the team's major league manager. La Russa ranks third in major league history in victories as a manager (2,728), trailing only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). He managed 5,097 games, joining Mack as the second manager or coach in American sports history to
7365339
List of Major League Baseball managers


Cardinals, originally known as the St. Louis Browns, have employed 64 managers. Ned Cuthbert was the franchise's original manager. Tony La Russa leads the team in regular-season and postseason wins (1,231 and 33), regular-season and postseason losses (1,029 and 25), and playoff appearances (7). La Russa and Hall of Famer Billy Southworth both won two World Series, which is tied for the most in club history by a single manager. Charles Comiskey leads the team in winning percentage (.685
3841260
Tony La Russa


World Series titles. La Russa retired after winning the 2011 title and 33 seasons as a major league manager. Three months later, he accepted a position assisting fellow former manager Joe Torre, the executive vice president for MLB operations. In 2014, he became the Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks. On December 9, 2013, he was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame by the 16-member Veterans Committee. The induction ceremony was held at Cooperstown, New York, on July 27, 2014. On August 16,
7365313
Tony La Russa


. La Russa's professor responded, "Grow up, you're an adult now, you're going to be a lawyer." He is one of a select number of major league managers in baseball history who have earned a law degree or passed a state bar exam; others include James 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),
7365320
Tony La Russa


the American Association, choosing to manage in the minors after the White Sox had offered him his same major league coaching role. 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. He credits Paul Richards with first inspiring him to believe he could succeed as a major league
7365323
Tony La Russa


reach 5,000 games. In 2004, he became the sixth manager in history to win pennants with both American and National League teams; in 2006 he became the first manager ever to win multiple pennants in both leagues and the second manager to win the World 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 named Manager of the Year in both of baseball's major leagues.
7365340
History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1990–present)


and the Cardinals' winning tradition the next decade. Walt Jocketty, with a reputation as a top player developer, became the GM in 1995, and he hired renowned manager Tony La Russa. DeWitt's ownership group oversaw a period of consistent playoff appearances through key acquisitions of players. He also implemented a philosophy of bolstering talent from the minor leagues as the farm system consistently lagged near the bottom in baseball, as noted by publications such as ESPN and "Baseball America." From 2000 to 2013, the Cardinals made ten
14401100
Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball


Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres, manager Tony La Russa of the Oakland Athletics, shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles, and pitcher Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He discussed each person's approach to the game of baseball, choosing them because of their success in their roles and their strong work ethics. While researching for "Men at Work" over a period of three years, Will acquired 11 press passes that offer special locker-room privileges in Major League Baseball stadiums. In the book
4804404
Clay Dreslough


Clay Dreslough is the creator of the "Baseball Mogul" and "Football Mogul" computer sports games, and is the co-founder and President of Sports Mogul, Inc. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) and graduated from Wesleyan University. Dreslough's design and programming credits include the "Tony La Russa Baseball" series, "Pennant Fever", "Microsoft Baseball", "Madden", "Baseball Mogul", "Baseball Mogul Online", "Football Mogul", and "MLB Slugfest Loaded
16521046
2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game


2003. National League manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies selected Tony La Russa of the host St. Louis Cardinals and Joe Torre of the Los Angeles Dodgers as his coaches. Torre previously managed the Cardinals from 1990-1995. La Russa has managed an All-Star team five times, and led the 2005 and 2007 NL teams. This was Torre's first NL All-Star coaching position; he has managed an AL All-Star team six times. Manuel previously coached the AL All-Star team in 2002's
4303998
Tony La Russa


manager. La Russa was named American League Manager of the Year in 1983, when his club won the AL West but fell to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. The White Sox fired La Russa after the club got off to a 26–38 start in 1986. In 1986, General Manager Roland Hemond, who had hired La Russa as White Sox Manager, was replaced by the White Sox' broadcaster Ken Harrelson as General Manager. Harrelson then fired both La Russa and coach Dave Duncan during the season. Ironically
7365324
Tony La Russa


Devon, and reside in Alamo, 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. La Russa is also personal friends with celebrities outside the sports world, such as pianist and songwriter Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Springsteen, jazz bassist Christian McBride, and heavy metal musician Robb Flynn from the band Machine Head. In 2007
7365346
Old Time Baseball


"Earl Weaver Baseball" (1987). "Old Time Baseball" took the "Tony La Russa Baseball" engine (then the top baseball game in the market), removed the current 28 teams' players and ballparks, and substituted the complete lineups of every major league team from 1871 to 1981, 12,000 players in all. 16 old (often demolished) ballparks were also included in which games could be played with accurate dimensions. Users could replay historical seasons for any league during this period from every major league in
2187482
Tony La Russa


in Chicago in 1983. The two worked together on every La Russa-managed team after, and he often credits Duncan as playing a key role in his success. La Russa led the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series, after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS (3–2), and then the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS (4–2). The Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series to win the franchise's 11th World Championship, and the third of La Russa's managerial career. He
7365334
Tony La Russa


on June 5, 2010. In 1980, La Russa appeared as a contestant on the game show "To Tell The Truth", and helped fool the celebrity panel. In June 2010, La Russa was asked about a tea party protest taking place during his game against the Arizona Diamondbacks that criticized the Diamondbacks' position against the controversial new Arizona immigration statute. La Russa expressed support for the Tea Partiers' right to free speech to protest at the ballpark. He also stated, "I'm actually a supporter of what
7365350
Tony La Russa


Arizona is doing... you know if people don't fix their problems they have to take care of it themselves." La Russa and Pujols attended Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally on August 28, 2010 in Washington, D.C. while the Cardinals were in town for a series against the Washington Nationals. La Russa decided to attend after being told by Beck that the rally was not political in nature. Throughout the 2011 season, La Russa struggled with shingles. He originally disclosed that it was conjunctivitis, however, on
7365351
Mel Allen


of Allen to open and close the show until 2002. Allen recorded the play-by-play for two computer baseball games, "Tony La Russa Baseball" and "Old Time Baseball", which were published by Stormfront Studios. The games included his signature ""How about that?!"" home run call. He also used the same catch-phrase during his cameo appearances in the films "" (1988) and "Needful Things" (1993). Producer Don Daglow said in a 1995 interview
2680073
Ozzie Smith


cuff injury during the 1985 season, Smith posted career highs in multiple offensive categories in 1987. Smith continued to earn Gold Gloves and All-Star appearances on an annual basis until 1993. During 1995 season, Smith had shoulder surgery and was out nearly three months. After tension with his new manager Tony La Russa developed in 1996, Smith retired at season's end, and his uniform number (No. 1) was subsequently retired by the Cardinals. Smith served as host of the television show "This Week in Baseball
3087983
Tony La Russa


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 patriarch Walter A. Haas, Jr.. La Russa then left to take over for the fired Joe Torre at the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished his Athletics career with a 798–673 regular season record and a 19–13 postseason record. In his first campaign with the Cardinals in 1996, La Russa clinched the National League Central Division title (and
7365329
Tony La Russa


saying it was in the best interest of all concerned. "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", La Russa said in a statement released by his attorney. On June 4, 2009, the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" reported that La Russa had sued the online social network platform Twitter the previous month for a fake page established under his name on the site. La Russa claimed that he had "suffered
7365354
Tony La Russa


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), and Branch Rickey (St. Louis Browns, 1913–15, St. Louis Cardinals, 1919–25). La Russa is also commonly credited for the advent of the modern specialized bullpen. La Russa credits Loren Babe and Paul Richards of the White Sox organization for helping him to become a manager. The White Sox gave La Russa his first managerial
7365321
2004 St. Louis Cardinals season


World Series, Tony La Russa became the sixth manager to win pennants in both leagues, following Joe McCarthy, Yogi Berra, Alvin Dark, and the managers in the 1984 World Series, Sparky Anderson and Dick Williams. La Russa had managed the Oakland Athletics to three straight pennants between 1988 and 1990 and winning the 1989 World Series. La Russa would try to join Anderson as the only men to have managed teams to World Series championships in both leagues. La Russa wore number 10 in tribute to Anderson (who wore 10
18185652
Italian Americans


: Frank Capra, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Cimino, Vincente Minnelli, Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma. Italian Americans were active in professional sports as players, coaches and commissioners. Well-known professional baseball coaches in the post-war decades included: Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Tony La Russa, Tommy Lasorda and Joe Torre. In professional football, Vince Lombardi set the standard of excellence for all coaches to follow. A. Bartlett Giamatti became president of the National Baseball League in 1986, and Commissioner of Baseball in
4081963
Al López


in 1940. Al and Connie López retired to his hometown in 1970 to live near family and friends. López was the first Tampa native to play in the major leagues, the first to manage a major league team, the first to manage his team to a World Series (Lou Piniella and Tony La Russa each did so later), and the first to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. As such, he was the recipient of many honors in his hometown, both during and after his long baseball career
20827672
Artificial intelligence in video games


video game "Dragon Quest IV" (1990) introduced a "Tactics" system, where the user can adjust the AI routines of non-player characters during battle, a concept later introduced to the action role-playing game genre by "Secret of Mana" (1993). Games like "Madden Football", "Earl Weaver Baseball" and "Tony La Russa Baseball" all based their AI in an attempt to duplicate on the computer the coaching or managerial style of the selected celebrity. Madden, Weaver and
6862206
Tony La Russa


the wheel of his running SUV with the car in park at a stop sign. He was booked at the Palm Beach County Jail and blew a .093 blood- alcohol content, above the legal limit of .08. Calling his arrest on the DUI 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 players, such as Albert Pujols. On November 28, 2007 La Russa pleaded guilty to DUI,
7365353
Bob Costas


Stadium for MLB Network, where he hit an RBI single to win the game. Costas's call:A base hit to right! Here comes Richardson, they're waving him home! The throw, it's close but he scores! On a walk off hit by Derek Jeter! Costas is a devoted baseball fan. He's been suggested as a potential commissioner and wrote "Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball" in 2000. For his 40th birthday, then Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa allowed Costas
4734739
Tony La Russa


opportunity in 1978 by naming him skipper of their Double-A affiliate, the Knoxville Sox of the Southern League. La Russa spent a half-season at Knoxville before being promoted to the White Sox coaching staff when owner Bill Veeck changed managers from Bob Lemon to Larry Doby. Doby was fired at the end of the season; Don Kessinger, former star shortstop of the crosstown Cubs, was named the White Sox' player-manager for 1979, and La Russa was named manager of the Triple-A Iowa Oaks of
7365322
Tony La Russa


May 10, after a visit to the Mayo 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. Because bench coach Joe Pettini was named 'acting manager' instead of 'interim manager', La Russa was credited for all wins and losses during his absence. On March 22, 2007 La Russa was arrested in Jupiter, Florida for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was found asleep at
7365352
Tony La Russa


at the moment, swiftly responded Todd Cruz. This resulted in him receiving votes. But he did not completely stump the panel. In 2012, La Russa released his "New 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. In 2005, La Russa was the focus of a book by sportswriter Buzz Bissinger. Bissinger's "Three Nights in
7365357
2008 St. Louis Cardinals season


that had "grown counterproductive ... with respect to some baseball issues." Tony La Russa, however, signed a contract to return to manage the Cardinals for his 13th and 14th seasons. John Mozeliak took Jocketty's place as GM. John Abbamondi, former senior director of labor economics working for Major League Baseball in New York, joined the Cardinals as assistant GM. On March 13, it was announced that Mark Lamping, president of the Cardinals for 13 years, resigned to become the CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company
12328440
Lou Piniella


ranked 14th all time on the list of managerial wins. He was nicknamed "Sweet Lou", both for his swing as a major league hitter and, facetiously, to describe his demeanor as a player and manager. Born in Tampa, Florida, Piniella's parents were of Asturian descent, from northwest Spain. He grew up in West Tampa, and played American Legion baseball and PONY League baseball alongside Tony La Russa. Piniella attended Jesuit High School in Tampa, where he was an All-American in basketball. After
12789650
Luis Gonzalez (outfielder)


the University of South Alabama, where he earned Baseball America's "All-Freshman Second Team" honors. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 1988 amateur draft. Gonzalez played American Legion Baseball for Post 248. Other Post 248 alumni include Lou Piniella, Tony La Russa, Tino Martinez, and Gary Sheffield. Gonzalez made his major league debut on September 4, 1990. He finished the rest of the 1990 season with 4 hits (2 doubles). The year of 1991 became the
14557575
Batting order (baseball)


has been used sparingly in the major leagues, but was notably employed by St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa in the second half of the 1998 baseball season, and again in August 2007 and in 2008, and by Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost in 2008. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon placed the pitcher in the #8 spot during the beginning of the 2017 Cubs season. On August 18, 1956, major league manager Bobby Bragan placed his best hitter in the leadoff position and the remainder of his lineup in descending batting
18549819
Billy Martin


Martin for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), "He played the game hard and made no excuses for the way he handled himself on or off the field. Many people, including his off-and-on boss, George Steinbrenner, considered Martin a baseball genius for the intuitive way he managed his teams." Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa stated of him, "without reservation I would call Billy the most brilliant field manager I ever saw. He was unmatched. None of us felt up
3688333
Dave Duncan (baseball)


341 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .279. While he was a light-hitting player, he excelled as a defensive catcher, ending his career with a .984 fielding percentage. He was respected during his playing career for his defensive skills and for his knowledge of the game of baseball. In spite of his low average he hit 109 home runs, one for every 26.5 at bats. During his time with the Athletics, he first met future manager Tony La Russa, then a utility infielder with the
9429878
Tony La Russa


teammate Lou Piniella. After graduating from Jefferson High School in Tampa, La Russa was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in June, 1962 as a middle infielder, with a clause to pay for his college education. La Russa made his major league debut on May 10, 1963, after having played 76 games with A's affiliates Binghamton Triplets and Daytona Beach Islanders in 1962. He spent the entire 1963 season in the majors, as was required by his signing as a "bonus baby." He had suffered an off
7365315
Tony La Russa


of the Year award was arguably the most emotional; La Russa led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series (where they would ultimately lose in five games to the San Francisco Giants) in a year in which the Cardinals were traumatized by the deaths of beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile just four days later. After a 2004 regular season in which the Cardinals led the NL in runs scored (855) while allowing the fewest (659), La Russa's Cardinals defeated the
7365331
Tony La Russa


is a graduate of the University of South Florida (bachelor of arts in industrial management, 1969) and the Florida State University College of Law (Juris Doctor, 1978). La Russa has Italian and Spanish ancestry, and speaks fluent Spanish. His father's parents were migrants from the Italian island of Sicily and his mother's family originated from Spain. 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.
7365348
Tony La Russa


August" delves into La Russa's role as manager during a 3-game series in 2003 between his Cardinals and manager Dusty 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 book "Moneyball". As David Leonhardt of "The New York Times" wrote of the "stats vs. hunches" debate in an
7365358
Tony La Russa


August 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 book "" 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
7365359
Tony La Russa


most for a major league manager, trailing only the totals of Connie Mack and John McGraw. As a player, La Russa made his major league debut in 1963 and spent parts of five major league seasons with the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. After a shoulder injury during the 1964–65 off-season, he played much of the remainder of his career in the minor leagues until retiring in 1977. Following his playing career, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Florida State University. La Russa
7365311
Tony La Russa


July 30, 1980. He is associated with a Sarasota law firm although he is not eligible to practice at this time. 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
7365319
Tony La Russa


team that had surmounted a 3–0 deficit against the New York Yankees who swept them in four games. 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 the Cincinnati Reds. After winning the championship, he chose to continue wearing number 10 to pay tribute to Anderson. It was as a player with the A's that La Russa first met catcher Dave Duncan, who would join his coaching staff
7365333
Florida State Seminoles baseball


Former Seminoles who have gone on to have success include Randy Choate, J. D. Drew, Stephen Drew, Ron Fraser, Johnny Grubb, Terry Kennedy, Doug Mientkiewicz, Shane Robinson, Larry Rothschild, Tony La Russa, Paul Sorrento, Kevin Cash, Woody Woodward, and Jameis Winston. The Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, presented annually to the top catcher in college baseball, is named for Florida State hall of famer Buster Posey. Former head coach Mike Martin is the winningest coach in the history of
19395109
Major League Baseball All-Star Game


, intended as a one-time event, Connie Mack and John McGraw were regarded as baseball's venerable managers, and were asked to lead the American and National League teams, respectively. McGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing the Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series. In 1974, he became manager of the California Angels, whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa, who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, and retired after the season,
219870
Dave McKay (baseball)


(2012–13). Although almost every year of his coaching career (including his current post) has been spent as a first-base coach, he spent 1988 as the strength and conditioning coach of the A's. He and José Canseco co-authored a book on proper weight training techniques for baseball players. McKay began a long-term professional association with both manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan from the midpoint of the 1986, when LaRussa and Duncan took over their respective positions with Oakland, through 2011
22139224
Tony La Russa


passed Bobby Cox for 2nd place on the all-time post-season wins list with his 68th win in Game 3. 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 with John McGraw. He finished his Cardinals career with a 1408–1182 regular season record and 50–42 postseason record. La Russa also became the first
7365335
1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game


out the ceremonial first pitch. Players in "italics" have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Manager: "Tony La Russa", Oakland Coaches: Joe Morgan, Boston Jeff Torborg, Chicago White Sox Manager: Roger Craig, San Francisco Coaches: Jack McKeon, San Diego Don Zimmer, Chicago Cubs All the scoring was done by The American League. In the Top of The Seventh Inning Julio Franco hit a double to Right Field sending Sandy Alomar home from Third Base and Lance Parrish home from
626134
Charleston Charlies


La Russa, and former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph. Six former Charleston Charlies players have been major league managers: La Russa and Randolph, as well as Bobby Valentine, Luis Pujols, Art Howe, and Ken Macha. Valentine (1996–2002), Howe (2003–2004) and Randolph (2005–2008) all managed the New York Mets and La Russa (1988–1995), Howe (1996–2002) and Macha (2003–2006) managed the Oakland Athletics. Former Major League baseball player and Atlanta Braves coach, Jim Beauchamp managed the Charleston
11653702
List of St. Louis Cardinals managers


NL pennants. Matheny took over from La Russa. With DeWitt ‘s era, the Cardinals have seen their greatest period of managerial stability with just two managers. Besides La Russa, eight Cardinals managers have won a modern World Series: Hornsby, Frisch, Street, Dyer, Southworth, Keane, Schoendienst and Herzog; Southworth and La Russa are the only ones to win two each. Comiskey won one pre-World Series title and tied for another. Cardinals managers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame include Comiskey, Tommy McCarthy
9939174
List of Major League Baseball managers


) and is one of thirteen Cardinals managers who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame—three of whom (Comiskey, Southworth, Red Schoendienst) had multiple tenures with the club. La Russa and Whitey Herzog each won a Manager of the Year award with the Cardinals (Herzog in 1985 and La Russa in 2002, the fourth of his career). On July 14 2018, Mike Matheny was fired by the cardinals. Mike Shildt was hired as the club’s 64th manager on an interim basis. On August
3841261
Animal Rescue Foundation


pets at home. The catalyst for ARF came in May 1990 during a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees when a stray cat wandered onto the playing field at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Terrified by the roar of the crowd, the frightened feline dashed about, eluding umpires and players. La Russa (then the manager of the A's) coaxed the cat into the dugout, secured her safety for the remainder of the game, then took responsibility for placing her with a local shelter. Tony
15423579
Gene Lamont


under Tony La Russa. His team consisted of such stars as Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Ellis Burks, Jack McDowell, Alex Fernandez, Jason Bere, and Wilson Álvarez. Lamont took home the AL Manager of the Year award that year, and the team lost in the American League Championship Series to the soon-to-be champs, the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1994, a baseball strike took place. When it began, the White Sox had the best record in the division; but the team did not
5843639
2011 St. Louis Cardinals season


single postseason. Carpenter, 9–2 overall in his Cardinals postseason career, ran his home postseason mark to 7–0 with a 2.15 ERA. Tony La Russa became only the ninth manager in major-league history to win at least three World Series. On October 31, three days after winning the World Series, manager Tony La Russa announced his retirement. He finished his managerial career after 33 seasons, third in all-time managerial wins and second all-time in post season wins. November 3 marked the first time in the
19204177
History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1990–present)


1995. DeWitt has a long track record in baseball, commencing with his father, Bill DeWitt, who once worked for former Cardinals general manager (GM) Branch Rickey and owned the St. Louis Browns. DeWitt himself was a minority owner of the Texas Rangers and actively participated with the baseball clubs on which the elder DeWitt served. Hired during the AB era, the new ownership retained Jocketty. One of Jocketty's first moves under new ownership was to hire La Russa away from the Oakland Athletics. La Russa became one of
14401111
New Orleans Pelicans (baseball)


1950s, the team was associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was managed by Danny Murtaugh. Other notable Pelican managers included Larry Gilbert and Abner Powell, with the latter credited with introducing the perforated "rain check" in 1889. The Pelicans' name briefly resurfaced during the 1977 season when oilman A. Ray Smith moved his Triple-A Tulsa Oilers to New Orleans to play in the Superdome. Tony La Russa was a reserve infielder for the team, playing most of his games at 2nd base. After a single season, the
12799324
Larry Walker


that a Canadian could go do it." As of 2008, Walker was an instructor on the St. Louis Cardinals' spring training staff under former manager Tony La Russa and did fill-in training with the Cardinals staff. He was offered a full-time position but chose to remain in his part-time position. Since 2009, Walker has served as a hitting coach and first base coach for the Canadian national team. He has coached for Team Canada in three World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournaments, 2009,
13641476
World Series


drought, known as the Curse of the Bambino, defeating the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS after losing the first three games, and then defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. With the 2006 World Series victory by the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa became the second manager to a win a World Series in both the American and National Leagues. Prior to 2003, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated from year to year between the NL and AL. After the 2002 Major League Baseball All
14075439
Willie McGee


bats in the Cleveland Indians' Division Series sweep of Boston. On December 15, 1995, McGee signed as a free agent and returned to St. Louis for good. Coincidentally, he was reunited with former Oakland manager Tony La Russa, who had just inked a multi-year deal on October 23 to become St. Louis' new skipper. One of the lighter moments of the 1996 season came in the form of a commercial that McGee recorded with Ozzie Smith. As part of the team's "Baseball like it oughta be
19554232
2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


who made their greatest contributions to the sport after 1972, a time frame that the Hall of Fame calls the "Expansion Era". The induction class consists of managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, and Joe Torre, elected by the Expansion Era Committee, and Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas, elected by the BBWAA. The induction ceremonies were held on July 27, 2014 at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On the day before the actual induction ceremony, the annual Hall of
20866880
Jeff Newman (baseball)


was named interim manager prior to the hiring of Tony La Russa. The A's went 2–8 under Newman. Through 2018, he was one of seven Jewish managers in MLB history. The others were Gabe Kapler, Bob Melvin, Brad Ausmus, Norm Sherry, Lou Boudreau, and Lipman Pike. He remained a coach and manager with the A's at the minor league level through , being named the Southern League's Manager of the Year in while managing the Huntsville Stars to a win-loss percentage of .573. He
20915520
Storm Davis


the A's during a season which the A's won 99 games, more than any other team in Major League Baseball. After Davis (and reliever Rick Honeycutt) pitched in the only AL Championship Series game that the A's lost that year, Davis was originally scheduled to be the A's starting pitcher for Game Four of the 1989 World Series. When the Loma Prieta earthquake caused Game 3 to be delayed by ten days, Tony La Russa decided to re-use the winners of Games 1 and 2, Dave
22076887
List of Major League Baseball records considered unbreakable


he owned the team as well. The closest manager to Mack in games managed and losses is Tony La Russa (with 5,097 and 2,365, respectively). John McGraw is second in wins with 2,763. The closest active manager in wins, losses and games managed is Bruce Bochy (age ) with 1,926 wins (11th), 1,944 losses (8th), and 3,870 games managed (9th). Bochy has announced that the 2019 Season will be his last as manager, so it is unlikely he will make further progress
3207808
Red Schoendienst


1965 through 1976 – the second-longest managerial tenure in the team's history (behind Tony La Russa). Under his direction, St. Louis won the 1967 and 1968 National League pennants and the 1967 World Series, and he was named National League Manager of the Year in both 1967 and 1968. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. At the time of his death, he had worn a Major League uniform for 74 consecutive years as a player, coach, or manager, and had served
4118092
2007 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting


vote from McGwire for at least a year or two, saying, "The biggest trouble I have with McGwire, he hit so many home runs in such a short period of time. It's not like he was a consistent Hall of Famer his whole career." In contrast, Tony La Russa – McGwire's manager for all but one and a half years of his 16-season career – has said, "Without question, I believe he belongs there on the first ballot. You're talking about a long and distinguished
606448
Mark Gilbert


in 2013, his former major league manager, Tony La Russa, told the Associated Press: "Sure, I remember him. I was always taken with his intelligence and how he was committed to what we were trying to teach — to become a teammate, a competitor, and to pursue excellence as a professional. You do that and get a proper foundation and out of the bottom, out drops your fame and fortune. I think he's now raised his excellence to a new level." After baseball, Gilbert
7726543
Terry Collins


record at the All-Star Break, Tony La Russa selected Collins as one of his coaches to the 2012 All-Star Game. In 2013, Bruce Bochy selected Collins as one of his coaches to the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field. At the end of September 2013, Collins agreed to a two-year extension with the Mets with a club option for 2016. When Jim Leyland retired in October 2013, Collins became the oldest active manager in Major League Baseball. On June 16, 2015, Collins
8102074
Dave Duncan (baseball)


. Four pitchers he coached won the Cy Young Award in 1983, 1990, 1992, and 2005. He was also a member of four World Series champion teams in 1972, 1989, 2006, and 2011. Each year from 1983 to 2011, Duncan worked with former manager Tony La Russa on the White Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals. Following the 2013 season, he became a pitching consultant for the Diamondbacks. Duncan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, as a 17-year-
9429866
Ron Gardenhire


finished third in the voting in 2002, his first season as manager. His five runner-up finishes are tied with Tony La Russa, who won the award outright an additional four times. In 2009, he received the Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award. In thirteen seasons as the Twins manager, Gardenhire's team had a losing record five times (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014), and won the division six times (the Twins lost a one-game playoff to the
9678683
Ken Suarez


in Tampa, Florida, and attended Jesuit High School. As well as being the catcher for the Jesuit Tigers, Suarez played for West Tampa's American Legion team with Lou Piniella and Tony La Russa. Suarez attended Florida State University, and took over catching duties for the Seminoles baseball team as a sophomore in . After leading his team to the College World Series in 1963, Suarez erupted his junior year. He batted .404 with 44 hits, six home runs, thirty runs batted in, 25 runs scored and 21 walks
17153277
Rene Lachemann


he joined other young players such as Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan, with whom he would have a lasting professional association. Lachemann, a , right-handed hitter, played only one full season in the Major Leagues, 1965, batting .227 with nine home runs and 29 runs batted in and appearing in 92 games played. He reappeared briefly—in 26 total games—for the A's in 1966 and 1968, but spent the rest of his playing career in minor league baseball. His Major League batting average was
17517969
History of Tampa, Florida


Hall of Famer Wade Boggs grew up in Tampa, as did Tony La Russa, Lou Piniella, Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez, Doc Gooden, and Gary Sheffield. The Devil Rays changed their name to the Rays in 2008. USF Baseball Stadium opened in 2011. . USF basketball plays at the Yuengling Center, formerly the Sun Dome. The Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League formed in 1992, and plays at Amalie Arena, formerly the Ice Palace and St. Pete Times Forum. The Lightning won the Stanley Cup
19042985
Kevin Towers


while their batters were hit only 43 times. On May 17, 2014, the Diamondbacks hired Tony La Russa to oversee Towers and all baseball operations. The Diamondbacks dismissed Towers from the general manager position on September 5, while offering him another position in the organization, which he declined. In 2015, he joined the Cincinnati Reds as a scout and special assistant to the general manager, Walt Jocketty. Towers was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. He died of anaplastic thyroid cancer on January 30, 2018, at a hospital
19610380
Bob Welch (baseball)


game. When the Series was resumed 11 days later, A's manager Tony La Russa opted to re-use his Game 1 starter, Dave Stewart, for Game 3 in place of Welch, and his Game 2 starter, Mike Moore, for Game 4 in place of originally scheduled starter Storm Davis. The strategy worked, as the A's swept the Series in four games giving him his second World Series. A two-time All-Star (1980 and 1990), Welch won 14 or more games in
2484176