Tony La Russa - Legacy

Legacy

La Russa ranks third in major league history in victories (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 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.

La Russa is the winningest manager in St. Louis Cardinals history, with 1,408 wins and 1,182 losses (.544) and 1 tie as manager of the club since 1996. He was 522–510–3 (.506) with the Chicago White Sox 1979–1986, leading the club to its first postseason appearance in 24 years in 1983, and 798–673 (.542) with the Oakland Athletics 1986–1995, winning three consecutive AL pennants from 1988–1990; he also holds the record for victories by an Athletics manager since the franchise relocated to Oakland in 1968. His 2,000th game managing the Cardinals came on May 31, 2008. Two of his wins from 1999 have been in dispute; Rene Lachemann is sometimes credited with the wins for the Cardinals while La Russa was hospitalized for a stomach ulcer, but as baseball rules give the temporary acting manager no credit for a win or loss when standing in for the manager because of absence due to illness, La Russa gets the credit for the two wins.

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 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.

As a manager 65 years or older, La Russa will become eligible for the Hall of Fame six months after retirement. Assuming he remains retired, he will be an eligible candidate in the next vote by the Baseball Hall of Fame's Expansion Era Committee, scheduled to be held in 2013 for induction in 2014.

In 2012, he became the second manager to manage the All-Star Game (2012) after retiring since John McGraw in 1933. 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.