Tony La Russa was born on Wednesday, October 4, 1944, in Tampa, Florida. La Russa was 18 years old when he broke into the big leagues on May 10, 1963, with the Kansas City Athletics. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Tony La Russa baseball stats page.
"The toughest thing for me as a young manager is the fact a lot of these guys saw me play. So it's hard for me to instruct them in anything because they know how bad I was." - La Russa, Tony. The Cubbies, Quotations on the Chicago Cubs. Chieger, Bob. Atheneum Publishing. 1 April 1987.
Tony La Russa![]() Tony La Russa Autograph on a 1987 Topps (#68) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tony La RussaTony La Russa Pitching Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
| - | - | Did Not Pitch | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
Tony La RussaTony La Russa Hitting Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 1963 | 19 | Athletics | 34 | 44 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .346 | .318 |
| 1968 | 24 | Athletics | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 |
| 1969 | 25 | Athletics | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 1970 | 26 | Athletics | 52 | 106 | 6 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .198 | .301 | .255 |
| 1971 | 27 | Athletics | 23 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 1971 | 27 | Braves | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .286 |
| 1973 | 29 | Cubs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
| 6 Years | 132 | 176 | 15 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 1 | 37 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .199 | .292 | .250 | ||
Tony La RussaTony La Russa Fielding Stats |
||||||||||||||||
| Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| 1963 Athletics | 2B | 3 | 1 | 48 | 9 | 3.0 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 5.06 |
| 1963 Athletics | SS | 14 | 10 | 318 | 47 | 3.4 | 45 | 23 | 22 | 2 | 7 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .957 | 3.82 |
| 1970 Athletics | 2B | 44 | 28 | 780 | 161 | 3.7 | 156 | 67 | 89 | 5 | 21 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .969 | 5.40 |
| 1971 Athletics | 2B | 7 | 0 | 36 | 6 | 0.9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .833 | 3.75 |
| 1971 Athletics | 3B | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .500 | 1.29 |
| 1971 Athletics | SS | 4 | 0 | 24 | 9 | 2.3 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 10.13 |
| 1971 Braves | 2B | 9 | 1 | 81 | 15 | 1.7 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .933 | 4.67 |
| Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| 2B Totals | 63 | 30 | 945 | 191 | 3.0 | 184 | 85 | 99 | 7 | 26 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .963 | 5.26 | |
| SS Totals | 18 | 10 | 342 | 56 | 3.1 | 54 | 27 | 27 | 2 | 8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .964 | 4.26 | |
| 3B Totals | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .500 | 1.29 | |
| 3 Years | 83 | 40 | 1,308 | 249 | 3.0 | 239 | 112 | 127 | 10 | 34 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .960 | 4.93 | |
Tony La RussaTony La Russa Miscellaneous Stats |
||||||||||||
| Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
| Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 1963 Athletics | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 16 | n/a | 0.0 | 3.7 | 44.0 | - | - | - |
| 1968 Athletics | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 2 | n/a | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| 1969 Athletics | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| 1970 Athletics | 0 | 0 | .000 | 11 | 3 | n/a | 0.0 | 5.6 | 17.7 | - | - | - |
| 1971 Athletics | 0 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 6 | n/a | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| 1971 Braves | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| 1973 Cubs | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | n/a | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 6 Years | 0 | 0 | .000 | 30 | 28 | n/a | 0.0 | 4.8 | 25.1 | - | - | - |
Tony La RussaTony La Russa Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
||||
| Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
| 1963 Kansas City Athletics | 29 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1968 Oakland Athletics | 10 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1969 Oakland Athletics | 11 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1970 Oakland Athletics | 22 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1971 Oakland Athletics | 42 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1971 Atlanta Braves | 6 | Undetermined | - | - |
| 1973 Chicago Cubs | 42 | Undetermined | - | - |
| Tony La Russa Stats by Baseball Almanac | ||||

Did you know that Tony La Russa passed the bar exam in December 1979, making him one of only five lawyer / managers in Major League history? The other four were: Monte Ward (New York Giants, Brooklyn and Providence, late 1800s), Hughie Jennings (Detroit, 1907-20, New York Giants, 1924), Miller Huggins (St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, 1913-29) and Branch Rickey (St. Louis Browns, 1913-15, St. Louis Cardinals, 1919-25). Did you know that all five of these "lawyer / managers" are also members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame?

Tony La Russa | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 2014 (HOF)
Tony La Russa went from being an infielder in 1973, to manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1979, amassing 522 wins, 510 losses, and a Manager of the Year Award (1983). Moving west, La Russa managed the Oakland Athletics next, winning 798 games from 1986-1995, winning two more Manager of the Year Awards (1988, 1992), three American League pennants, and his first World Series ring (1989). Another move, and even more success, as La Russa went back to the heartland, where he managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 1996-2011, won 1,408 games at the helm, a fourth Manager of the Year Award (2002), six National League pennants, and two additional World Series championships (2006, 2011).
Did you know that Tony La Russa was the American League All-Star manager in 1989, 1990 and 1991 (3 wins / 0 losses); and the National League All-Star manager in 2005, 2007 and 2012 (1 win / 2 losses); and when the senior circuit won in 2012, he became the first manager to win a Midsummer Classic in both leagues?