Zitat des Tages von Tony La Russa:
I've been so fortunate in life to have worked for such great organizations, with great owners and general managers and all the great players, along with the support of my family.
If you watch the history of baseball, teams come back, and sometimes they could have come back, but they give in or give up.
My wife and I, we started a foundation about companion animal rescue, but there's a group called Performing Animal Welfare Society just outside of Sacramento... and they offered me a job as an elephant keeper.
I think the guys that get to the All-Star Game deserve a lot of credit. They deserve their opportunity to get out there and let the baseball fandom see them.
You've got to acknowledge what you did wrong and see if you can fix it to the extent possible, and turn the page.
If you seriously aspire to be a manager in the big leagues, there is a baseball 'book' that one must learn. Alongside that book, you must practice Spanish. Of 25 players on each roster, sometimes there are between eight and 15 players who speak Spanish.
Winning in Oakland in '89 was distinguished because that was truly a great team on a mission to prove that '88 was not what we represented. I look at that team in awe. It was a push-button team.
You know, I think when you coach or you manage, you make decisions, and there's some that are really, really tough.
I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have.
I don't miss being in the dugout - I'll make that clear.
I was in the American League for 16, 17 years, and I think it's a really tough league to compete in.
It's easy to figure out whether you're getting stale. All you've got to do is look in the mirror and be honest with yourself.
I had started law school at Florida State University as a part-timer. I would go two quarters, and they allowed me to drop out to play baseball, and then I'd get readmitted in September. I was convinced I was going to be a lawyer and was using my baseball salary to pay my way through school.
I have coaching friends, and when we get together, we often talk more about what we're doing to get players' attention than we do about the fascinating X's and O's of our sport.
I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing.
I'm not going to manage again. I'm going to work for a team someday. But it won't be managing.
Just because you're down to your last strike, you're not out yet. You can always do more. You'll always have more at-bats to take. That's true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life, generally.
In the end, as a manager or coach, you have to keep your heart pure and do your best as a manager or a coach.
Losing sucks. I don't think most people understand how bad it feels.
I've said this: If Jim Leyland had been in my place, he'd have the 2,000 wins and I'd have 1,000. Leyland is the greatest.
The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too.
