12/03/24
October 31, 2011
Cardinals' La Russa retires as champ: After 32 seasons managing three teams, Tony La Russa, 67, goes out a champion after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a stirring seven-game World Series triumph over the Texas Rangers just days ago. It was his third championship. He also won the 1989 World Series with Oakland and the 2006 Series with St. Louis. "I knew this day would come. I just hoped that it wouldn't," said team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.
Not too many managers (or players) get to go out on top. Best of luck to him and whatever he does next.
posted by NerfballPro at 10:36 AM on October 31, 2011
I wonder what this means for Albert Pujols considering that La Russa is the only manager he's ever played for.
posted by BornIcon at 11:08 AM on October 31, 2011
La Russa trivia!
He's been a manager in 5 consecutive decades.
Other than a three week period in 1986 (between White Sox and A's managing positions), he's been working as a manager in MLB for 33 consecutive seasons.
posted by grum@work at 11:30 AM on October 31, 2011
Bittersweet for this Cardinals fan.
The sweet is that the Cardinals now will not be hamstrung by a manager who runs players out of town (Rolen, Rasmus, et al) due to "personality conflicts" and who loves him some scrappy middle infielder veterans at the expense of better, younger players. And that I can probably watch Cardinals games (including meaningless blowouts mid-season) that last on average 10 minutes less per game because the manager is not constantly changing pitchers to gain a platoon advantage and show everyone how smart he is.
Bitter in that I don't think they win this past World Series without some pretty fantastic managing. I tend to think managers only really help around the margins and can do more harm than good (see Washington, Ron), but the margins were thin enough in this postseason that La Russa likely had a net positive effect on the outcome. Also bitter in that I think this makes it less likely that Pujols stays. And generally, his players (except those who get run out of town, of course) really seem willing to go to the mat for him, and he does establish a level of professionalism (some might call it tight-assedness) that seems to be adopted from the top of the roster to the bottom. Also bitter in that the guy took the Cardinals to the postseason in 9 of his 16 years (plus 3 WS appearances and 2 WS victories), which is an amazing accomplishment (non-Yankees division).
But man, can't go out at a better time. No way he was topping that, and hats off to him.
Bonus: A young Tony La Russa on To Tell the Truth:
posted by holden at 12:31 PM on October 31, 2011
Thinking about this more, who are the candidates to replace La Russa?
There are three pretty good job openings right now -- Cards, Red Sox and Cubs (good for potential with Theo running the front office, but crap on the field for the next couple of years). Of course, this assumes the Cubs dump Quade.
If Francona is not going to take a year off, I imagine St. Louis would be the only of the three that he would take. The Red Sox are obviously out and I imagine his relationship with Theo has probably run its course, nixing the Cubs. Also, great landing spot -- talented team, no major media headaches, great franchise and great fans.
Bobby Valentine has been mentioned as being ripe to get back into managing for a while now, and might be a good candidate for any of these gigs.
Other than those two, I am not thrilled about any of the potential retread candidates for the Cardinals. Perhaps there is an up-and-comer in the minor league ranks or serving as a bench coach or pitching coach or something (a la Joe Maddon or Bud Black), but I can't think of anyone off-hand.
posted by holden at 12:59 PM on October 31, 2011
Why did Kevin Kennedy fall off the managing carousel?
posted by rcade at 01:27 PM on October 31, 2011
Why did Kevin Kennedy fall off the managing carousel?
The mustache.
posted by holden at 01:36 PM on October 31, 2011
That and being pretty much terrible.
posted by yerfatma at 02:59 PM on October 31, 2011
He led the 1993 Rangers to an 86-76 record (no mean feat) and the 1995 Red Sox to their first postseason appearance in five years. His Sox had an 85-77 record the next season when he was fired.
He wasn't great, but by the standards I'm used to as a Rangers fan he's solidly in pretty good territory.
posted by rcade at 03:23 PM on October 31, 2011
That second season got him fired because they were something like 20 games under 500 at the break. They were the best team in baseball after the ASG, but it still wasn't enough to get them anywhere. He was a bad manager with some decent talent. The '95 team got MVP seasons from Vaughan (who won the award) and Valentin (who should have), plus a decent year from Clemens and an out-of-nowhere run by new signing Tim Wakefield. And Canseco had a good year as well.
Kennedy basically played Best Friends with Clemens and Canseco and when it all fell apart in '96 and a report came out that his best friend Rajah was wearing a Walkman in team meetings, his death warrant was signed.
He's also the idiot that turned Canseco into a DH by allowing him to pitch for the Rangers against the Sox.
posted by yerfatma at 10:10 AM on November 01, 2011
This is good news for those of us who have decided there's nothing more important in the world than the St. Louis Cardinals losing.