There are 3 of them.
La Russa became a big-league manager in Chicago.
La Russa became a great manager in Oakland.
And La Russa became a Hall of Fame manager in St. Louis.
A black one:
A green one:
A red one:
And none of them are going with Tony LaRussa to the Baseball Hall of Fame out in Cooperstown, New York when he's inducted this summer.
This post from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Bernie Miklasz) presents some extremely strong reasons why Tony should have chosen Cardinal Red.
However, as the author points out, no matter what Cardinal Nation thinks, it's ultimately Tony's decision.
Not the fans.
Here's the explanation, right from LaRussa:
"The Chicago White Sox gave me my start in the game as a big-league manager for my first eight seasons in my 33-year managerial career. In Oakland, we recorded four first-place finishes in 10 years, winning three pennants and a World Series. And in St. Louis, our clubs won three pennants and two titles in 16 years. It's the totality of the success of each of those three teams that led me to Cooperstown, so I am choosing to not feature a logo so that fans of all clubs can celebrate this honor with me."
And you know what?
I'm totally OK with this reasoning. In fact, it's just 1 more decision to put in this guy's "admirable" column.
Yet another strategic decision from one of baseball's most strategic managers.
He is recognizing that it wasn't just the Sox or the Hey-Hey-A's or the Redbirds that made him a Hall of Fame manager.
It was all the players, all the coaches, all 3 front offices, all the fans that made his career a success. And Tony is totally aware of that.
And that's very cool.
Even though deep down, I really do share this opinion of Bernie's:
La Russa became a great manager in Oakland.
And La Russa became a Hall of Fame manager in St. Louis.
Yup.
Out for now.....
MH
some of my favorite LaRussa pic's during his Cardinals years:
