Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission

Tony La Russa, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, is truly one of the most iconic figures in baseball today. Players and fans love him or hate him, so it's surprising that although the 2009 season will mark his 30th anniversary in a major league dugout, nobody really knows much about him or his life. In this first full and authorized biography of La Russa, author Rob Rains goes behind the scenes to learn the influences behind La Russa's intensity and uncompromising focus, why winning every game possible is so important to him, and why he often puts the game ahead of his private and personal life. Combining new interviews with past and current players, managers, and executives--including LaRussa himself--with intensive research through newspapers, magazines, and other archive material, Rains reconstructs La Russa's life from his days as a young boy growing up in Tampa, where he spoke Spanish before he spoke English, to his current standing as the third-winningest manager in baseball history. La Russa made his ascent to major league managing in 1979 at the age of 34, taking over Bill Veeck's Chicago White Sox after managing only 184 games in the minor leagues, spread over two seasons. He has been in a major league dugout ever since, except for 13 days in 1986 between when he was fired by the White Sox and hired by the Oakland A's. This biography delves into both baseball and private subjects with the goal of delivering to the reader an accurate and unbiased portrayal of La Russa.