Of course, the news of the day is that Tony LaRussa is retiring from the Cardinals, and presumably baseball as a manager.
I, for one, will miss him. I honestly think that he was the best manager in baseball overall over the past twenty-five years or so. Even if you disagree with that, there is no doubt that LaRussa changed the game and was a baseball genius. The guy has had books written about him- most notably George Will's "Men at Work" had a chapter analyzing his managing style and kind of put him on the forefront, and then there are a couple of other books that deal with LaRussa himself.
I remember back in the 80's, before computers became vogue, I saw some sheets that his assistants would keep on their opponents, and it had all kinds of info on it- such as where the ball was hit, what type of pitch it was, if it was a hit, the count, etc. Nowadays, that's pretty common to keep that info, and computerize it, but LaRussa definately was the first to refine it and put it to good use. He also was one of the first guys to use bullpens in a logical, organized way where everyone had a defined role. Except for Jason Motte.
So, when the Cardinals were looking for a manager back in 1996, LaRussa was my first choice. And they got him- it was like Christmas! I really enjoyed watching him manage for 16 years. He was aggressive- I think he mellowed out at the end- but he brought in power to compliment the traditional speedy Cardinal lineups- and it was a lot of fun to watch. One things about LaRussa is you had to trust him because he was not afraid to do something that seemed unorthodox- like pitch a right hand pitcher to a left handed batter. But then later on, you find out that the hitter was hitting something like .050 against that right hand pitcher. LaRussa always did what he did with a purpose, and he was never afraid to think outside the box and he was never afraid to make a move that may not work if he felt like it was the right move. Sometimes his moves didn't work. Most of the time, they did. I can't ask for much more than that.
He was also willing to let Dave Duncan take credit for his work with the pitching staff and not let his ego get in the way. A lot of head coaches in any sport can't/won't do that.
Oh, and he had the Cardinals in the postseason most of the time during his career. And the times he didn't, the Cardinals were usually at least in the hunt, or they at least had McGwire blasting 500 foot home runs.
You look at the World Series, and the Cardinals won at least in part because of him. Look at game seven- he was willing to start Carpenter on short rest because it was the best move for the team. He was also willing to sit Matt Holliday in Game seven- a move that a lot of mangers would not have made because of Holliday's star power. The guy that replaced Holliday in the lineup, Allen Craig, hit the eventual game winning home run and took away a home run for the Rangers.
LaRussa went out the way he should- on top.
I, for one, will miss him. I honestly think that he was the best manager in baseball overall over the past twenty-five years or so. Even if you disagree with that, there is no doubt that LaRussa changed the game and was a baseball genius. The guy has had books written about him- most notably George Will's "Men at Work" had a chapter analyzing his managing style and kind of put him on the forefront, and then there are a couple of other books that deal with LaRussa himself.
I remember back in the 80's, before computers became vogue, I saw some sheets that his assistants would keep on their opponents, and it had all kinds of info on it- such as where the ball was hit, what type of pitch it was, if it was a hit, the count, etc. Nowadays, that's pretty common to keep that info, and computerize it, but LaRussa definately was the first to refine it and put it to good use. He also was one of the first guys to use bullpens in a logical, organized way where everyone had a defined role. Except for Jason Motte.
So, when the Cardinals were looking for a manager back in 1996, LaRussa was my first choice. And they got him- it was like Christmas! I really enjoyed watching him manage for 16 years. He was aggressive- I think he mellowed out at the end- but he brought in power to compliment the traditional speedy Cardinal lineups- and it was a lot of fun to watch. One things about LaRussa is you had to trust him because he was not afraid to do something that seemed unorthodox- like pitch a right hand pitcher to a left handed batter. But then later on, you find out that the hitter was hitting something like .050 against that right hand pitcher. LaRussa always did what he did with a purpose, and he was never afraid to think outside the box and he was never afraid to make a move that may not work if he felt like it was the right move. Sometimes his moves didn't work. Most of the time, they did. I can't ask for much more than that.
He was also willing to let Dave Duncan take credit for his work with the pitching staff and not let his ego get in the way. A lot of head coaches in any sport can't/won't do that.
Oh, and he had the Cardinals in the postseason most of the time during his career. And the times he didn't, the Cardinals were usually at least in the hunt, or they at least had McGwire blasting 500 foot home runs.
You look at the World Series, and the Cardinals won at least in part because of him. Look at game seven- he was willing to start Carpenter on short rest because it was the best move for the team. He was also willing to sit Matt Holliday in Game seven- a move that a lot of mangers would not have made because of Holliday's star power. The guy that replaced Holliday in the lineup, Allen Craig, hit the eventual game winning home run and took away a home run for the Rangers.
LaRussa went out the way he should- on top.
