Tony La Russa

MLB Manager 

Leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 World Series Championship over the Texas Rangers, Tony La Russa solidified his position in baseball history as one of the games' greatest managers. No stranger to success, Tony has won more games in major league history than all but two other managers.

While Tony played in the minor and major leagues for about 10 years, he pursued an alternate profession before launching one of the most successful coaching careers of all time. Graduating from Florida State University with his law degree, Tony passed the bar shortly after accepting a position to manage a minor league squad. By 1979, Tony was managing the Chicago White Sox and was named the 1983 Manager of the Year; the first of four such awards ('83, '88, '92, '02).

Following nine years in Chicago, Tony led the Oakland Athletics and their famed "Bash Brothers" -Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco- to three straight World Series appearances (1988-1990), winning his first championship in 1989. After a change in ownership, La Russa left to manage the St. Louis Cardinals where he was from 1996 until his retirement on October 31, 2011.

Few athletes and coaches leave the game as a champion, let alone in such resounding fashion. Down to a final strike -not once, but twice- in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, his brilliant maneuvering brought the Cardinals back from the edge of defeat to win their second Championship in the last six years.

Due to his love of animals, Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation was created as a no-kill shelter saving abandoned and injured animals, while also providing visiting programs for abused children, hospital patients and seniors.