2014 MLB Hall of Fame Inductees: Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, Bobby Cox
Dec 9, 2013; Orlando, FL, USA; Newly-inducted Baseball Hall of Fame managers
Tony La Russa
,
Joe Torre
and
Bobby Cox
(l-r) pose for a photo during the MLB Winter Meetings at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. Mandatory Credit:
David Manning
-USA TODAY Sports
On Sunday six new members will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Three of them are being inducted for their accomplishments during their playing careers: pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, along with one of the game’s most prominent hitters, Frank Thomas. The three managers that will be joining them are arguably three of the best managers of all-time and certainly of their generation.
Collectively, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox have won a total of eight World Series titles and ten Manager of the Year Awards. They are third, fourth and fifth on the all-time managerial wins list with La Russa in third, Cox in fourth and Torre in the fifth spot behind legendary managers Connie Mack and John McGraw who also hold places in baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Jul 19, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Former Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa (10), and players
Dave Stewart(34) and
Rickey Henderson(24) during the 1989 Oakland Athletics World Series team tribute before the game against the Baltimore Orioles at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Tony La Russa’s managerial career is to put it blunty, epic. He ranks third in baseball history in number of wins collected as a manager with 2,728, following only legends John McGraw (2,763) and Connnie Mack (3,731). La Russa has managed three teams over his 33-year managerial career. He won six pennants (three in the American League, three in the National League) and three World Series titles. He is one of only two managers in the history of baseball, the other being his mentor Sparky Anderson, to win a World Series in both the American and National Leagues.
La Russa’s Major League managerial career began with the Chicago White Sox in 1979 when he was hired to replace Don Kessinger mid-season. After taking over he held the club at a .500 clip for the remainder of the season. Just four years later in 1983, La Russa led the White Sox to an A.L. Western Division Championship and was named Manager of the Year. He was fired by White Sox General Manager Hawk Harrelson in 1986 after the club got off to a 26-38 start. Just three weeks after being fired from his first managing job, he was hired by the Oakland Athletics.
Within two years of being hired by the Athletics, La Russa led them to the first of three straight American League Pennants and a World Series title in 1989 in which they swept their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants. After the 1995 season and the death of La Russa’s friend and owner of the A’s, Walter Haas Jr., La Russa moved on only to have more success.
This time his success would be in the National League as the leader of the St. Louis Cardinals. While in St. Louis La Russa’s clubs won the N.L. Central Division title seven times over sixteen seasons. In 2004 won his fourth Manager of the Year award and led the Cardinals to the World Series for the first time since 1987. The Cardinals returned to and won the World Series in 2006 and 2011. La Russa currently works as the Chief Baseball Operator, a position above the general manager that was created especially for him in 2014, for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Jun 22, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Former New York Yankee Joe Torre (6) during Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Torre is best known for his success as a manager with the New York Yankees but his career actually began on the other side of the city. After briefly serving as a manager-player for the New York Mets in 1977, he remained manager of the Mets until 1981.
He served as manager of the Atlanta Braves from 1982-1984. The Braves led off the 1982 to a Major League record 13-game winning streak to open the season. The Braves went on to the National League Championship Series in 1982 but they could not get passed the St. Louis Cardinals and move on to the World Series.
Fired after the 1984 season, Torre took to the broadcast booth until 1990 when he took the helm for the same St. Louis Cardinals that kept him and the Braves from the World Series in 1982. During his tenure as manager the Cardinals went 351-354. They maintained a winning record for each of the three full seasons he managed the club. He was fired in 1995 as the Cardinals began a rebuilding period.
Torre made his true mark as one of the exceptional managers in the game when he signed on with the Yankees in 1996. With the help of some exceptionally talented players Torre managed the Yankees to the playoffs each of the 12 seasons he managed the team. He won six American League Pennants, four World Series titles and was named Manager of the Year in 1996 and 1998.
After the Yankees, Torre ended his managerial career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He managed the Dodgers to the playoffs in 2008 and 2009, before retiring in October 2010. He currently holds the position of Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball in the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig.
Mar 11, 2014; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves former manager Bobby Cox signs autographs before the Braves play the Philadelphia Phillies in a spring training exhibition game at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit:
David Manning-USA TODAY Sports
Bobby Cox began his Major League managerial career in 1978 in his first stint with the Atlanta Braves. He managed there until 1981. Under his leadership the struggling Braves he turned the Braves around from having the worst record in the Majors to finishing over .500 in 1980. In 1981 the Braves finished fifth following the strike and Cox was fired only to be succeeded by Joe Torre. During this first stint with the Braves, Cox made one of his most infamous decisions, he moved catcher/first baseman Dale Murphy to center field. The power-hitting Murphy went on to win two N.L. MVP Awards and five Gold Gloves at center field.
Cox went on to manage the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 until 1985. The team continually improved under his leadership, making it to the American League Championship Series in 1985. Cox returned to the Atlanta Braves as general manager in 1986 and remained with the organization until his retirement in 2010.
He named himself manager of the club in June 1990 after firing Russ Nixon. Having spent the last four years accumulating super-star players such as David Justice, Tom Glavine, Pete Smith and Chipper Jones the Braves went on to being a powerhouse team in the early to mid 1990’s. They appeared in playoffs a total of 14 times between 1990 and 2010, winning the World Series in 1995.
Cox is the fourth winningest-manager in baseball history with 2,504 wins. He was named Manager of the Year four times in 1985, 1991, 2004 and 2005 and is one of only four managers to win the award in both leagues. He has the distinction of being ejected from the most games in MLB history as a manager with 158 games. Cox surpassed John McGraw in this category in 2007 and was ejected for the final time in 2010.
Cox is a Braves legend and is certainly deserving of a place in the Hall of Fame, alongside La Russa and Torre. The three managers were, without question, the best of their generation.