Only hours after the St. Louis Cardinals’ improbable comeback in
Game 6 of the World Series in which they stood on the precipice of
elimination not once, but
twice, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reported
that “barring an eleventh hour change of heart” Tony La Russa would
return to manage the Cardinals in 2012 for a
17th season. Later that day, the Cardinals
defeated the Texas Rangers 6-2 to win a National League record
11th World Series title. Seventy-two hours later,
that eleventh hour had arrived. After 33 years of managing in the
big leagues, La Russa has
announced his retirement.
Well, this sure threw a monkey wrench into my
plans.
When I read about his decision, I was in the midst
of polishing off an article about how La Russa should come here to
Boston and return the Red Sox to their winning ways after their
stunning September collapse. The piece had all kind of clever
references to La Russa being persuaded to come to New England over
Thanksgiving dinner complete with Dave Loggins
serenading him. Please come to Boston
for the springtime.
Oh well, so much for that.
I suppose there is nothing to prevent Red Sox GM Ben
Cherington from arranging a turkey summit with La Russa in Alamo,
California. But all things considered, La Russa would be crazy to
come here up I-93 North. Sure he might have brought the Red Sox
another championship or two, maybe even three. But if Terry
Francona could be run out of town on a rail by Red Sox Nation after
winning two World Series titles here, what would prevent La Russa
from being spared the same fate if the Red Sox were to stumble
under his watch?
No, the time has come for Tony La Russa to exit
gracefully on the highest of all notes, enjoy the sunset and
perhaps rescue a few more animals
along the way. A speech in Cooperstown is also surely on the order
paper. Perhaps the Baseball Hall of Fame will simultaneously induct
La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre. Whether he is inducted on his
own or with his equally formidable contemporaries, there will be a
place for La Russa in the shrine of baseball
immortality.
The game of baseball will, of course, move on
without him but it won’t be quite the
same. Since I began watching baseball more than three decades ago,
La Russa has been a stoic fixture in the dugout with his arms
folded first with the Chicago White Sox, then the Oakland
Athletics, and for the past sixteen seasons with the St. Louis
Cardinals. He has spent nearly half his lifetime filling out lineup
cards and manipulating them to the advantage of his
teams.
In thirty-three years, La Russa has led his teams to
the post-season fourteen times. He guided the Athletics to three
straight AL pennants and earned three NL pennants with the
Cardinals. In six World Series, La Russa won three rings. The first
came with Oakland in 1989 in a World Series best remembered for an
earthquake. The second came in 2006 with a Cardinals team that had
won only 83 games during the regular season. Despite their modest
won-loss record, La Russa joined Sparky Anderson in becoming only
the second manager to win a World Series title in both
leagues.
As improbable as their 2006 championship seemed, the
thought of the Cardinals winning a World Series two months ago
seemed impossible, as the Redbirds were 10½ games back of the
Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card standings in late August. Even
more remarkable than that was La Russa managing
while afflicted with shingles.
But La Russa would recover and so too would the
Cardinals with mid-season acquisitions like starting pitcher Edwin
Jackson from the White Sox (via Toronto), shortstop Rafael Furcal
from the Dodgers, and bullpen help from ex-Blue Jays Octavio Dotel
and Mark Rzepczynski as well as former Ranger Arthur Rhodes. The
Cardinals were also wise to resist the temptation to send Lance
Berkman to Texas. It also didn’t hurt
that Chris Carpenter regained his form as a number one starter and
Albert Pujols returned quickly from a broken wrist to do what King
Albert does best. Then there was David Freese, a so-so third
baseman whose bat earned him both NLCS and World Series MVP honors.
And let us not forget the
Rally Squirrel. Could anyone blame La Russa for enjoying
this season more than the rest?
In the grand scheme of things, I suppose passing
John McGraw for second place on the all-time managerial win list
wasn’t so important to La Russa after
all. Is he any less worthy of a plaque in the Hall of Fame without
those additional 36 games in the win column?
Yet for all of La Russa’s
success as a big league manager, it is worth remembering that he
very nearly took another path altogether. After his less than
memorable playing career ended in 1973 with the Chicago Cubs, La
Russa would enroll in law school at Florida State University,
graduating with a J.D. in 1978 and passing the Florida state bar
exam in 1980. But La Russa ultimately chose to spend his life on a
baseball field rather than in a courtroom. He
remarked, “I decided
I’d rather ride the buses in the minor
leagues than practice law for a living.”
For that, a whole generation of baseball fans is
grateful. So long, Tony.
