Tony La Russa Quotes

My mind is just a product of 50 years of being taught. I’m no smarter than anyone else, but I’ve been taught by some wonderful people.

I think each negotiation should be based on what’s the best decision – taking everything into account, not taking one thing into account.

What you end up doing is you try to match your guy‘s strength against a place they can be successful. They’re doing the same thing against us. Sometimes they have the edge, sometimes you have the edge.

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.

If you watch the history of baseball, teams come back, and sometimes they could have come back, but they give in or give up.

I had started law school at Florida State University as a part-timer. I would go two quarters, and they allowed me to drop out to play baseball, and then I’d get readmitted in September. I was convinced I was going to be a lawyer and was using my baseball salary to pay my way through school.

It’s a sensitive thing, playing major league baseball.

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.

I think the guys that get to the All-Star Game deserve a lot of credit. They deserve their opportunity to get out there and let the baseball fandom see them.

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.

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

I’ve said this: If Jim Leyland had been in my place, he’d have the 2,000 wins and I’d have 1,000. Leyland is the greatest.

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.

I think there’s a growing number of pitchers who want to have a plan going into a game about how they’re going to go after that lineup. I’d say 75 percent want to have an idea, and they plan their attack. I know that 75 percent of hitters do not have that same type of plan against a pitcher.

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.

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.

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

You can’t manage by memo. You can’t stand up there and just send out edicts. I think you just gotta really personalize your relationships.

Clubs are taking away the steal of home. Not only are more pitchers throwing out of the stretch position, but more third basemen are playing closer to the bag. But another reason why nobody does it much anymore is that some guys, no matter how fast they are, just aren’t comfortable trying to steal home.

Just because you’re down to your last strike, you’re not out yet. You can always do more. You’ll always have more at-bats to take. That’s true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life, generally.

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

I’m not a big ‘Moneyball’ fan.

I’ve been so fortunate in life to have worked for such great organizations, with great owners and general managers and all the great players, along with the support of my family.

I’m not going to manage again. I’m going to work for a team someday. But it won’t be managing.

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.

To me, there is no more conscientious umpire in the Major Leagues than Jim Joyce. He gives you a hellacious effort every time.

I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing.

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.

Losing sucks. I don’t think most people understand how bad it feels.

The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.’s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too.