Last week, the Cardinals won their 11th World Series Title and capped off an amazing season with Tony La Russa guiding the team. Who knew it would be the last time for Tony. Earlier today, Tony La Russa announced his retirement from the game of baseball, just 3 days after winning a third World Series ring. He's the first manager ever to retire immediately after winning a World Series title. La Russa stated that he felt like it was time for the end and that he would've been coming back for the wrong reasons.
This ends his 33 year managerial career which started with the White Sox in 1979. Most Bay Area natives remember Tony as the manager of the Oakland A's from 1986-1995 with his bright spot winning the World Series with the A's in 1989 in the famous "Battle of the Bay" series against the Giants. In 1996, he took over the job in St. Louis and it would take him until 2006 to win a World Series with the Cards and then another one capped off just last week. La Russa's regular season record is impressive being 2,728-2,365, being behind only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763) in wins. He has 70 postseason wins being behind only Joe Torre who has 84.
La Russa would always be known as one of the best managers of all time if not a unusual manager. You could tell much about La Russa's style by simply watching him manage a season or even just a postseason. La Russa made a ton of pitching changes this last postseason, all for the better pitching match ups. His unusual tactics, however, got him results over the long term, that's for sure. Congrats to Tony for one last ring and to be able to retire as a champion. I'm sure he'll be riding off into the Hall of Fame in no time.
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