| Tony La Russa completed his 11th season as the Cardinals manager in 2006 and led the Redibirds to a 10th World Series title - their first since 1982. With the Cardinals title, La Russa joined Sparky Anderson as the only managers in Major League history to have won a World Series in both the American and National League. La Russa is second on the Cardinals all-time managerial wins list with 977 and hes third on the all-time wins list with 2, 297. Tony has guided the Cardinals to postseason appearances in seven of his 11 seasons with St. Louis, taking both his 2006 and 2004 teams to the World Series. He has managed the Cardinals to postseason play six times in the past seven seasons.
La Russa is one of nine managers to have skippered the Cardinals for more than four seasons. In February of 2005, Tony signed a three-year extension that will keep him in a Cardinals uniform until 2007 and a total of 12 seasons. The 12 seasons guiding the team will match Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst as the longest consecutive tenure as the skipper of the Cardinals. He and Leo Durocher are the only managers in major league history to have 500 or more wins with three different teams.
La Russa was hired by the Cardinals on October 23, 1995, after managing for 17 years in the American League with Oakland and Chicago. In his first N.L. season, La Russa guided the Cardinals to the 1996 Central Division title and was named Major League Manager of the Year by the Associated Press.
La Russa, 62, makes his off-season home in Alamo, Calif., with his wife, Elaine, and their two daughters, Bianca Tai (9/14/79) and Devon Kai (8/17/82). La Russa was born 10/4/44 in Tampa, Fla., and graduated from Jefferson High School in Tampa. He also holds a degree in industrial management from The University of South Florida in Tampa. He is the founder and chairperson of Tony La Russas Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) and is an active member in the Cardinals community foundation, Cardinals Care. He teamed with author H.G. Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) on a book titled Three Nights in August that was released in 2005. La Russa was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Photo: MLB Photos |
