Into the Sunset

While I wasn't shocked, I was surprised today at the announcement that Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa is retiring, just three days after winning his third World Series.
There have been times when LaRussa has tested my patience and I sarcastically have referred to him as "The Man Who Invented Baseball." There were instances at Coors Field when he was less than cordial to the media, myself included.
But the bottom line was the guy was a heck of a manager, the third most wins of all-time. One reason his exiting was somewhat surprising is that he is just 35 wins shy of John McGraw's total of 2,763 wins, good for second on the all-time list. LaRussa checks in at 2,728 victories.
Connie Mack registered 3,731 wins so if LaRussa set his sights on setting the record for most wins as a Major League manager then he would need to manage at least 10-more seasons and average 100 wins a year. That would give him 1,000 more wins and still leave him 3 short of Mack at the age of 77. Wasn't going to happen and now it definitely won't happen. One consolation for LaRussa versus Mack is winning percentage. LaRussa's winning percentage is .536. Mack's was .486. It helped that he managed 53-years and owned the team. He wasn't going to fire himself! For the record, McGraw's winning percentage was a phenomenal .586. Joe McCarthy, who was the bench boss for the Cubs Yankees and Red Sox is the all-time winning percentage leader at .615. He won 7 World Series titles with the Yanks.
Best wishes to LaRussa, one of the greatest managers ever and a guy who will end up in the Hall of Fame, deservedly so. I also really admire LaRussa's love and commitment to animals. He loves dogs and cats and raises money for the care of animals.
Meanwhile, I don't know who will manage the Cardinals next season but I do know one thing. You can knock at least a half hour off Cards games next year.