Tony La Russa Quotes

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Tony La Russa

Profession : Coach

Birth : October 4, 1944

Anything that disturbs your comfort factor is good for you.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

We're all men, not machines. We make mistakes.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

If the national government doesn't fix your problem, you've got a problem. You've got to fix it yourself. That's just part of the American way.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

I'm not a big 'Moneyball' fan.

Tony La Russa

You know, I think when you coach or you manage, you make decisions, and there's some that are really, really tough.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

There's a bigger difference now than when I first got into professional baseball because that was before guaranteed contracts, before there was a lot of money, so it was mostly survival. You had more competition.

Tony La Russa

If you're a coach, and you don't have trust with players, you've got no chance, and your credibility is zero. And that's why it's so important to tell them the truth. If you have something that you're upset about, tell them the truth. If they're doing something wrong, tell them the truth.

Tony La Russa

I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing.

Tony La Russa

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.

Tony La Russa

I can only think of about four players who I do not have anywhere from a good to a great relationship with.

Tony La Russa

Ever since I managed with guaranteed contracts and all the media, you know, you can get distracted by fame and fortune. Your values can get distorted. And the way you break through is, you just keep it personal and keep it simple and basic.

Tony La Russa

You've got to acknowledge what you did wrong and see if you can fix it to the extent possible, and turn the page.

Tony La Russa

If you like to run and the guys can't run, you don't run. If you like power, and you have guys that can't hit it out of the park, then you start moving guys around.

Tony La Russa

I was in the American League for 16, 17 years, and I think it's a really tough league to compete in.

Tony La Russa