He has the most wins of any active manager. He is 6th all time in the histroy of baseball in manager wins. He has 977 wins as a Cardinal manager. The most is 1041 by Red Scheondiest, which Tony will pass next year. Tony has won 2 world series, One in each league. He has won the division title 6 times in ten years as cardinals manager. He always wins with teams made up of some good players and some role players, but they always win. Is Tony the greatest manager of all time?
2006-11-02 02:27:34 · 6 answers · asked by greencaddyman 4 in Sports ➔ Baseball
As much as we in Cardinalland loved "Whiteyball", I would now have to agree with you. Sometimes we think him nuts, but in the end, he keeps getting us to the dance, and this year we're the homecoming king.
Just hope we don't give away the whole team in the off-season.
2006-11-02 02:33:52 · answer #1 · answered by boonietech 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'll contend that although LaRussa has done some great things since becoming the St. Louis Cardinals manager, he still has not surpassed the legend of Whitey Herzog.
I say this because Whitey took this team to the World Series three times in a span of 7 years. The Cards won the 1982 World Series, should have won the 1985 World Series, and could have won the 1987 World Series if they had home field advantage because each team in the series split their home games. The composition of those teams is drastically different than the current composition of MLB teams, but that doesn't take away from the accomplishment. Furthermore, Herzog had to get to the World Series by winning the division outright (only 2 divisions existed at that time - NL East & NL West each with 7 teams) and then playing in the NLCS. While some would contend that having to play in the additional division series (NLDS) today makes winning the World Series more difficult, I woud agree. However, getting into the playoffs was a lot harder back then because you had to WIN your division. The Cardinals have won the Central Division six times since LaRussa assumed the reins, but we would not have gone to the playoffs everyone of those years under the old system.
If Tony can take us back to the World Series one more time before he finishes his stead in St. Louis, then I think he may earn the distinction of best St. Louis Cardinals manager of all-time.
The fact that he is 3rd all-time in managerial victories, and 2nd all-time for the Cardinals doesn't play as much a role in my reasoning because he spent so many years with the Athletics (& some with the White Sox) before he came to St. Louis.
2006-11-02 03:54:19 · answer #2 · answered by Fantasy Protege 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps the best Cardinals manager--considering what he had to work with sometimes. I agree with the other answerer about Whitey though. He concentrated on fundamental baseball and capitalized on the turf at Busch. He is probably the most beloved--the equivalent to royalty in St Louis. His teams were exciting to watch.
LaRussa is not happy about passing the Redhead. He has considered making Red the manager and himself the bench coach so he doesn't pass him. He gained a lot of fans this year, but will probably never be as revered as Red and Whitey.
2006-11-02 13:47:47 · answer #3 · answered by fordkid14 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Right now I think Bobby Coz and Tony LaRussa are the best managers in the game. Most successful that's for sure aside from Joe Torre. I am sure both of them will make to the Hall of Fame.
I sure hope Mike Scoscia makes it to the Hall of Fame as well because he has been a great addition to the Angel franchise
2006-11-02 07:11:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whitey Heroz
Red Schoendist
2006-11-03 10:55:37 · answer #5 · answered by smitty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
only time will tell
2006-11-02 03:44:24 · answer #6 · answered by mets= k-rod 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋