Tony La Russa – Bio, Net Worth, Age, Baseball Manager, Career, Teams Coached, Nationality, Family, Wife, Kids, Height, Facts, Wiki, Salary, Contract

Anthony La Russa Jr. famed as Tony La Russa is an American professional baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Moreover, he is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics, as well as a former player. In 33 years as a manager, he guided his teams to three World Series titles, six league championships, and 12 division titles. As a player, he made his major league debut in 1963 and spent parts of five major league seasons with the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs. He was named manager of the White Sox in the middle of the 1979 season and guided the White Sox to an American League West division title four seasons later. He also led the A’s to three consecutive American League championships from 1988 to 1990 and the 1989 World Series title. He left Oakland following the 1995 season to manage the Cardinals and led the team to three National League championships and the 2006 and 2011 World Series titles. He then retired after winning the 2011 title and 34 seasons as a major league manager. In the 2021 offseason, he was named the manager of the Chicago White Sox after the firing of Rick Renteria. He ranks third in major league history in victories as a manager (2,728), trailing only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). He is the winningest manager in St. Louis Cardinals history, with 1,408 wins and 1,182 losses (.544) and 1 tie, managing the Cardinals from 1996 to 2011. He 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. 

White Sox hire Tony La Russa as new manager

The Chicago White Sox have hired Tony La Russa to be their next manager. Tony La Russa, the Hall of Famer who won a World Series with the Oakland Athletics and two more with the St. Louis Cardinals, is returning to manage the Chicago White Sox-34 years after they fired him. The team made the announcement on Thursday (29th October 2020) afternoon. La Russa, 76, hasn’t managed since winning the 2011 World Series with the Cardinals. He jumps past Astros skipper Dusty Baker (age 71) for the title of the oldest manager in baseball. The oldest manager in MLB history was Connie Mack, who worked until he was 87. “His hiring is not based on friendship or on what happened years ago, but on the fact that we have the opportunity to have one of the greatest managers in the game’s history in our dugout at a time when we believe our team is poised for great accomplishments,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said. “We are extremely excited about the future of this team,” general manager Rick Hahn said Thursday. “As we showed in 2020, this is a young, talented club that we expect to only grow better and better in the coming years. Adding in a Hall of Fame manager who is recognized as being one of the best in the history of the game, we are a step closer to our goal of bringing White Sox fans another championship.” 

Famous For

• Being baseball player, manager, and executive currently serving for Chicago White Sox of MLB. 
• Being the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics. 
• Being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2014 and being inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Source: @heraldbulletin

What is the Birthplace of Tony La Russa?

On 4th October 1944, Tony La Russa was born in Tampa, Florida, the USA with the birth name of Anthony La Russa Jr. He was raised in nearby Ybor City, Florida, where his parents had met while both were working in the local cigar factory. Growing up, the La Russa family moved to West Tampa, Florida where Tony played American Legion baseball and PONY League baseball alongside teammate Lou Piniella. He holds an American nationality and his ethnicity is Mixed. He has Italian and Spanish ancestry and speaks fluent Spanish. His father’s parents were migrants from the Italian island of Sicily and his mother’s family originated from Spain. Having a father who could speak Spanish and Italian and a mother who could speak Spanish, La Russa claimed in a 2008 interview that “Spanish was my first language”. He was born to his parents; Anthony La Russa Sr. (father) and Oliva La Russa (mother). He also has a sibling, a sister Eva Fojaco. As of 2019, he celebrated his 76th birthday. Libra is his Zodiac sign and his religion is Christian. After graduating from Jefferson High School in Tampa, La Russa was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in June 1962 as a middle infielder, with a clause to pay for his college education. He then graduated from the University of South Florida in 1969 with a degree in Industrial Management. He earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Florida State University College of Law in 1978.

How Tony La Russa began his Baseball Career?

• On 10th May 1963, Tony made his major league debut after he played with A’s affiliates Binghamton Triplets and Daytona Beach Islanders for 76 matches in the 1962 season. 
• He spent the entire 1963 season in the majors, as was required by his signing as a “bonus baby”. 
• Later, he suffered an off-season shoulder injury while playing softball with friends, due to which he played only 34 games in 1963. 
• He spent most of his time in the minor leagues for the next six seasons. 
• He spent the entire 1970 season with the A’s, and then late in 1971, the A’s traded him to the Atlanta Braves. 
• He appeared as a pinch-runner in one game for Chicago Cubs, on April 6, 1973, scoring the walk-off winning run. 
• Furthermore, he spent time in the organizations of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals.
• He played 132 major-league games, 40 in the starting lineup altogether where he went 35-for-176, for a batting average of .199. 
• He made 63 appearances at second base, 18 at shortstop, and two at third base, fielding .960 in 249 total chances and participating in 34 double plays. 

How was the Managerial Careerof Tony La Russa?

• The White Sox gave him his first managerial opportunity in the year 1978 by naming him skipper of their Double-A affiliate, the Knoxville Sox of the Southern League. For this, he credits Loren Babe and Paul Richards of the White Sox organization for helping him to become a manager.
• He then spent a half-season at Knoxville before being promoted to the White Sox coaching staff when owner Bill Veeck changed managers from Bob Lemon to Larry Doby. 
• He was later named manager of the Triple-A Iowa Oaks of the American Association, choosing to manage in the minors after the White Sox had offered him his same major league coaching role. 
• He became the youngest manager in the major leagues at the age of 34. 
• He was named American League Manager of the Year in 1983 when his club won the AL West but fell to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series.
• Later on, The White Sox fired him after the club got off to a 26-38 start in 1986. 
• He finished his White Sox career with a 522-510 regular-season record and a 1-3 postseason record.
• After that, he managed the Oakland A’s to three consecutive American League Pennants and World Series appearances from 1988 to 1990.
• He earned two American League Manager of the Year awards with the A’s, in 1988 and 1992, giving him three AL awards.
• He had a 798-673 regular-season record and a 19-13 postseason record with Oakland.
• In the off-season, he left Oakland to take over for the fired Joe Torre as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
• In his first campaign with the Cardinals in 1996, he clinched the National League Central Division title (and also finished National League runner-up), a feat his clubs repeated in 2000, 2001, 2002 (his fourth Manager of the Year award), 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009. He became the first manager to win the award four times. 
• He also led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series in a year in which the Cardinals were traumatized by the deaths of beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile just four days later.
• Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, 3 games to 1, and later, St. Louis took on the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series. 
• When he came to St. Louis, he wore number 10 to symbolize the team’s drive to their 10th championship and pay tribute to Anderson, who wore number 10 while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
• He also led the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series, after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS (3-2), and then the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS (4-2). 
• Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series to win the franchise’s 11th World Championship, and the third of his managerial career.
• He announced his retirement after the three days following the World Series win, ranking second all-time in postseason wins with 70, third all-time with 2,728 regular-season wins, second with 5,097 games managed, and second with 33 years (tied) managing with John McGraw.
• He finished his Cardinals career with a 1408-1182 regular-season record and 50-42 postseason record. 
• Furthermore, he became the first manager in Major League Baseball history to retire in the same season after winning a World Series title.
• He managed the National League All-Stars in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game for the final time in his managerial career where the National League won 8-0. 
• The White Sox announced that La Russa was coming out of retirement to replace Rick Renteria as their manager. It was announced on 29th October 2020. 
• He became the oldest manager in MLB at the age of 76. He became the first manager in baseball history to return to managing after being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• But the White Sox reportedly failed to satisfy the ‘Selig Rule’ by only interviewing a single minority candidate.

Source: @foxnews

How was the Executive Career of Tony La Russa?

• After his retirement, he took a position with MLB assisting former managerial rival Joe Torre in matters of on-field discipline where he held the position for more than a couple of seasons. 
• He then accepted a position as Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks to oversee the entire baseball operations department on 17th May 2014. 
• The Diamondbacks agreed to a six-year contract with free agent pitcher Zack Greinke worth a total of $206.5 million on 4th December 2015 which held the highest annual average value in MLB, exceeding $34.4 million per year, and was also the largest contract by total value in team history. 
• He was later demoted to Chief Baseball Analyst/Advisor with the Diamondbacks following a disappointing 93-loss season in 2016, which also resulted in the firing of General Manager Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale. He then resigned in the 2017 season. 
• The Boston Red Sox announced that he had joined the team as vice president and special assistant to Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations in November 2017. 
• He then worked with the Red Sox for two seasons, and after Dombrowski was released by the Red Sox during the 2019 season, the Los Angeles Angels hired him as senior adviser for baseball operations in November 2019.

Moreover, 

• He appeared as the subject in a round of the Robin Ward-hosted version of “To Tell The Truth” in 1980. 
• He released his New York Times bestselling memoir, “One Last Strike” in the year 2012. 
• He also provided the AI for a series of successful video games, “Tony La Russa Baseball” (1991-1997). The games won numerous awards and featured “new” statistics selected with La Russa (and provided by prominent sabermetrics authors John Thorn and Pete Palmer) as tools for players as they managed their teams.

Awards and Achievements of Tony La Russa

• 3× World Series champion (1989, 2006, 2011)
• 4× Manager of the Year (1983, 1988, 1992, 2002)
• St. Louis Cardinals No. 10 retired
• Athletics Hall of Fame
• St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame

Who is Tony La Russa married to?

Tony La Russa is a married man. He has been married twice until now. He was married to his first wife, Luzette Sarcone whereas the duo divorced in the year 1973. The duo was also blessed with two daughters named Andrea and Averie whom Sarcone received their full custody after their divorce. After their separation, he married his second wife, Elaine. The married couple is the founders of Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, which saves abandoned and injured animals as well as running programs to bring dogs and cats to abused children, hospital patients, seniors, and shut-ins. The married couple is also blessed with two kids; daughters named Bianca and Devon. As of today, the duo is residing in Alamo, California. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay. 

Source: @arflife.org 

How much is Tony La Russa’s Net Worth and Salary?

Tony La Russa is an American former Major League Baseball infielder and baseball manager whose net worth is estimated to have $30 Million as of 2020 as per the source; celebritynetworth.com. Whereas the details regarding his exact salary are still to get unfold yet but there is no doubt in the mind of his followers that he is getting a considerable amount from his career. His major source of wealth and income comes from a baseball career. He has been enjoying his successful life as an executive, a celebrated personality, and a multi-millionaire complemented man. As of today, he is satisfied with his earnings.

How tall is Tony La Russa?

The handsome and attractive personality man, Tony La Russa still looks very young at this age of 76. His body build is average. He is very conscious about his food intakes and he regularly does exercises to keep himself fit and strong. He stands tall at the height of 1.82m with a balanced body weight of 86 Kg. His other body details such as chest size, waist size, hip size, biceps size, and more are still to get revealed yet. He has got a very charming smile attracting a lot of people towards him.