Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission
"You don't know Tony La Russa. You think you do, but you don't. I guarantee you that what you think you know about this man is not accurate. I have never met a man in sports or life who is more misunderstood." --Joe Buck, from his foreword"What tells you how good a manager is, is length of time. Owners don't keep you around if you don't have a lot of good things going for you." --Sparky Anderson"Tony has a knack that is rare in managers. He can be friendly with his players and he can be a disciplinarian. He can talk with a player about a mistake and not make it seem like he's jumping on him." --Jerry Koosman"As a manager he was always three innings ahead. A lot of times he would make a move in a game that I didn't understand and which I thought was pretty dumb. Later, I would ask him about it, and after our discussion I thought I was the idiot." --Jerry Reinsdorf"He loves the game, he respects it. He loves the players. He is relentless in competing. He won't let up, no matter what." --Jim Leyland