Anthony La Russa Jr., also known as Tony La Russa, is a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox (MLB). He is also a former player and manager for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Oakland Athletics. During his 33-year managerial career, he led his teams to three World Series championships, six league championships, and 12 division titles. He made his major league debut in 1963 and played for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs for parts of five seasons. In the middle of the 1979 season, he was named manager of the Chicago White Sox, and four seasons later, he led the White Sox to an American League West division title.

He also led the A’s to three consecutive American League championships from 1988 to 1990, as well as the World Series championship in 1989. He left Oakland after the 1995 season to manage the Cardinals, where he led the team to three National League championships and World Series victories in 2006 and 2011. After winning the championship in 2011, he announced his retirement after 34 seasons as a major league manager.

After Rick Renteria was fired, he was named manager of the Chicago White Sox in the 2021 offseason. He is the third most successful manager in major league history, trailing only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,728). (2,763). From 1996 to 2011, he was the St. Louis Cardinals’ winningest manager, with 1,408 wins and 1,182 losses (.544) and one tie. Until his retirement following the Cardinals’ World Series victory in 2011, he was the longest-tenured bench boss in any of the Big Four sports leagues.

White Sox hire Tony La Russa as a new manager:

Tony La Russa has been hired as the next manager of the Chicago White Sox. Tony La Russa, the Hall of Fame manager who won two World Series with the Oakland A’s and one with the St. Louis Cardinals, is returning to manage the Chicago White Sox—34 years after they fired him. The announcement was made in the afternoon of Thursday, October 29, 2020. La Russa, 76, hasn’t won a World Series since winning it with the Cardinals in 2011. He surpasses Astros manager Dusty Baker (71 years old) as the oldest manager in baseball.

Connie Mack, the oldest manager in MLB history, worked until he was 87 years old. “Hiring him is not based on friendship or what happened years ago,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said. “It is based 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.” “”We’re very excited about the future of this team,” said general manager Rick Hahn on Thursday. “As we demonstrated in 2020, this is a young, talented club that we expect to grow even more in the coming years. With the addition of a Hall of Fame manager who is widely regarded as one of the best in the game’s history, we are one step closer to bringing another championship to White Sox fans.”

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

Tony La Russa is an American former Major League Baseball infielder and manager with a net worth of $30 million as of 2020, according to celebritynetworth.com. While the details of his exact salary are still being revealed, there is no doubt in the minds of his followers that he is making a good living from his career. His primary source of wealth and income is his baseball career. He has been living a successful life as an executive, a well-known personality, and a multi-millionaire. He is currently content with his earnings.

Famous For:

• As a baseball player, manager, and executive, he currently works for the Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox.
• Having previously managed the St. Louis Cardinals and the Oakland A’s.
• In 2014, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager, and in 1998, he was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

What is the Birthplace of Tony La Russa?

Tony La Russa was born Anthony La Russa Jr. on October 4, 1944 in Tampa, Florida, United States. He grew up in nearby Ybor City, Florida, where his parents met while working at the local cigar factory. Tony La Russa grew up in West Tampa, Florida, where he played American Legion and PONY League baseball alongside teammate Lou Piniella. He is of mixed ethnicity and holds an American nationality. He is of Italian and Spanish ancestry and speaks Spanish fluently. His father’s parents came from the Italian island of Sicily, and his mother’s family came from Spain.

La Russa claimed in a 2008 interview that “Spanish was my first language” because she grew up with a father who spoke Spanish and Italian and a mother who spoke Spanish. Anthony La Russa Sr. (father) and Oliva La Russa (mother) gave birth to him (mother). He also has a sister named Eva Fojaco. He celebrated his 76th birthday in 2019. His Zodiac sign is Libra, and he is a Christian. After graduating from Jefferson High School in Tampa, La Russa was signed as a middle infielder by the Kansas City Athletics in June 1962, with a clause requiring him to pay for his college education. He then earned a degree in Industrial Management from the University of South Florida in 1969. In 1978, he received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Florida State University College of Law.

How Tony La Russa began his Baseball Career?

• Tony made his major league debut on May 10, 1963, after 76 games with A’s affiliates Binghamton Triplets and Daytona Beach Islanders in 1962.
  He played in the major leagues for the entire 1963 season, as required by his contract as a “bonus baby.”
• Later, while playing softball with friends during the off-season, he suffered an off-season shoulder injury, which limited him to 34 games in 1963.
• For the next six seasons, he spent the majority of his time in the minor leagues.
• He spent the entire 1970 season with the A’s before being traded to the Atlanta Braves late in 1971.
• On April 6, 1973, he appeared as a pinch runner for the Chicago Cubs, scoring the game-winning walk-off run.
• He also worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals organizations.
• He appeared in 132 major-league games, including 40 starts, going 35-for-176 with a.199 batting average.
• He played 63 games at second base, 18 at shortstop, and two at third base, batting.960 in 249 chances and contributing to 34 double plays.

How was the Managerial Careerof Tony La Russa?

• In 1978, the White Sox gave him his first managerial opportunity, naming him manager of their Double-A affiliate, the Knoxville Sox of the Southern League. Loren Babe and Paul Richards of the White Sox organization are credited with assisting him in becoming a manager.
• He then spent a half-season with Knoxville before being promoted to the White Sox coaching staff when owner Bill Veeck replaced Bob Lemon with Larry Doby.
• He was later named manager of the American Association’s Triple-A Iowa Oaks, opting to manage in the minors after the White Sox offered him the same major league coaching position.
• At the age of 34, he became the major leagues’ youngest manager.
• He was named American League Manager of the Year in 1983, when his team won the AL West but lost in the American League Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles.
• Later, after the White Sox started the season 26-38, he was fired.
• He finished his White Sox career with a regular-season record of 522-510 and a postseason record of 1-3.
• From 1988 to 1990, he led the Oakland A’s to three consecutive American League pennants and World Series appearances.
• With the A’s, he won two American League Manager of the Year awards in 1988 and 1992, giving him a total of three AL awards.
• With Oakland, he had a regular-season record of 798-673 and a postseason record of 19-13.

• During the offseason, he left Oakland to take over as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, replacing the fired Joe Torre.
• In his first season with the Cardinals, he won the National League Central Division (and finished second in the National League), a feat his team repeated in 2000, 2001, 2002 (his fourth Manager of the Year award), 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009. He became the first manager in history to receive the award four times.
• He also led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series in a year that saw the deaths of beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile just four days apart.
• The Cardinals won the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3 games to 1, and then faced the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series.
• When he arrived in St. Louis, he wore number 10 to represent the team’s quest for a tenth championship and to pay tribute to Anderson, who wore number 10 while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
• He also led the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies (3-2) in the NLDS and the Milwaukee Brewers (3-2) in the NLCS (4-2).
• The Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series to win the franchise’s 11th World Championship and his third.
• He announced his retirement three days after the World Series victory, ranking second all-time in postseason wins with 70, third all-time in regular-season wins 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 regular-season record of 1408-1182 and a postseason record of 50-42.
• Furthermore, he was the first manager in Major League Baseball history to retire after winning the World Series in the same season.
• He managed the National League All-Stars for the final time in his managerial career in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game, which the National League won 8-0.
• The White Sox announced that La Russa would be returning from retirement to take over as manager in place of Rick Renteria. It was announced on October 29, 2020.
• At the age of 76, he became the MLB’s oldest manager. After being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he became the first manager in baseball history to return to the bench.
• However, the White Sox allegedly failed to meet the ‘Selig Rule’ by only interviewing one minority candidate.

How was the Executive Career of Tony La Russa?

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

Moreover,

• In 1980, he was the subject of a round of “To Tell The Truth” hosted by Robin Ward.
• In 2012, he published his New York Times bestselling memoir, “One Last Strike.”
• He also created the AI for a series of popular video games, including “Tony La Russa Baseball” (1991-1997). The games won numerous awards and featured “new” statistics chosen in collaboration with La Russa (and provided by prominent sabermetrics authors John Thorn and Pete Palmer) as tools for players to manage 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 has a wife. He has been married twice before. He was married to his first wife, Luzette Sarcone, but the couple divorced in 1973. The couple also had two daughters, Andrea and Averie, over whom Sarcone had full custody following their divorce. He married his second wife, Elaine, after they divorced. The couple founded Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, California, which saves abandoned and injured animals and runs programs to bring dogs and cats to abused children, hospital patients, seniors, and shut-ins. Bianca and Devon, the married couple’s daughters, are also blessed with two children. The couple is currently residing in Alamo, California. He is not gay and has a straight sexual orientation.

How tall is Tony La Russa?

Tony La Russa, the handsome and attractive personality man, still looks very young at the age of 76. His physique is average. He is very conscious of his food intake, and he exercises on a regular basis to keep himself fit and strong. He is 1.82 meters tall and weighs 86 kilograms. His other body measurements, such as chest size, waist size, hip size, biceps size, and others, have yet to be revealed. He has a charming smile that draws a lot of people to him.

You may also like Calvin Booth.

Quick Facts About Tony La Russa