ZRock exclusive! Tony La Russa Interview
by Jarrod Vrazel : zrock.com
Photo by Lynda Niemeier
ARF founders Tony and Elaine La Russa with Tesla
and a few four-legged friends at ARF Rocks! (Jan. 7, 2005)
Tony La Russa, founder of Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), host of ARF Rocks!, and manager of baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, is the focus of Buzz Bissinger’s new book, Three Nights in August.
Drawing on unprecedented access to a manager and his team, Bissinger brings the same revelatory intimacy to major-league baseball that he did to high school football in his classic bestseller, Friday Night Lights.
Three Nights in August shows thrillingly that human nature — not statistics — can often dictate the outcome of a ballgame. We watch from the dugout as the St. Louis Cardinals battle their archrival Chicago Cubs for first place, and we uncover delicious surprises about the psychology of the clutch, the eccentricities of pitchers, the rise of video, and the complex art of retaliation when a batter is hit by a pitch. Through the lens of these games, Bissinger examines the dramatic changes that have overtaken baseball: from the decline of base stealing to the difficulty of motivating players to the rise of steroid use. More tellingly, he distills from these twenty-seven innings baseball’s constants — its tactical nuances, its emotional pull.
During his twenty-six years of managing, La Russa won more games than any other current manager and ranks sixth all-time. He has been named Manager of the Year a record five times and is considered by many to be the shrewdest mind in the game today. For all his intellectual attainments, he’s also an antidote to the number-crunching mentality that has become so modish in baseball. As this book proves, he’s built his success on the conviction that ballgames are won not only by the numbers but also by the hearts and minds of those who play.
On the day of the book’s release (April 5, 2005), the St. Louis Cardinals opened the 2005 season with a 7-3 victory over the Astros in Houston. ZRock spoke with Tony La Russa the following morning:
ZRock: Hi Tony, how did you like the way the game went last night?
Tony: It’s nice to open with a win. It got a little scary at the end, but it was a solid win. It did a lot of good things.
ZRock: Your new book, Three Nights in August, was officially released yesterday. I picked up a couple copies at Barnes and Nobles. They had a really nice huge display of your books right inside the front door. They had a nice baseball fever display with your book prominently featured.
Tony: It’s great to hear that.
ZRock: I interviewed Jeff Keith of Tesla after their ARF Rocks! show. We received great feedback from the fans who really were interested in seeing the musicians join you in support of your charity. The fans really like the idea and the caring for the animals. Congratulations on creating the Animal Rescue Foundation and putting it together. It’s definitely a great cause.
Tony: Thank you. I appreciate it. We get a lot of support because there’s no controversy. Dogs and cats need to be saved, and we’re doing a really good thing by finding ways that they rescue people. It’s an important mission.
ZRock: Great job so far. Hopefully you ll get a lot of success with the book.
Tony: Yes. We need to pay off the building.
ZRock: Has much of your strategies changed since 2003, or do you see managing this season along the same lines as in the past?
Tony: Well, one of the neat things is that you get a combination of both. There are parts of this game that you need to get a team ready to do that have been there for a hundred years. You’ve got to make some plays and take it tough at bat and all that stuff. That’s been true for years. Every year, you try to stay ahead of the curve a little bit. You try to be innovative and don’t get locked into where you’re too predictable in some of the stuff your team does. There is a little room there to be a little different. Mostly it depends on the talent on your team.
ZRock: In essence, it’s still the players who are playing the game, but it’s definitely important to have a good leader.
Tony: It’s a player’s game. Most of the managers do it. That’s what the book is about. Most of what you see there is about the Cardinals and our coaching staff. It’s pretty much the same no matter where you go. It’s about the players. If you’ve got the players, you’ve got a chance. If you don’t, I don’t care who’s coaching you’re not going to win.
ZRock: You definitely had some good luck in the Houston series at the end of last season. It was a tremendous series, but when it came down to the games that counted, the Astros not only were out-played but possibly out-coached as well. Usually the better team prevails. As an Astros fans, I hated to see them not make it to the World Series. Congratulations on a great season last year.
Tony: It was exciting. It was so close and could have gone either way in all the games. The margin between us was a pitch here or a play there. I mean, if Jim Edmonds doesn’t make the catch and things like that… It was very close. There was no out-coaching. Phil Garner deserved it and did a good job.
ZRock: I don’t mean anything negative towards Phil. I think you had all the pieces of the puzzle fall the right way for you.
Tony: Yes, you are right about that. We had a great team, but they did, too, and they were hot as heck. It was a heck of a series.
ZRock: How is your outlook for this season?
Tony: There are a lot of similarities on paper. We have a solid ball club, but we’ve still got to play the games. Guys that are supposed to pitch and hit it isn’t automatic they’ve got to do it. But we start from a good place. We’ve got good guys with good talent, and they just need to come out there and try to make something good happen.
ZRock: You definitely have a good crew. If the ball bounces the right way most of the time, you should be right there once again playing in October.
Tony: That’s our plan. You have a chance to win, and that’s the only thing that you try to do. That’s why we’re playing these games. I hope it works out that way.
ZRock: With respect to your book, a portion of the proceeds benefits your charity?
Tony: All of the proceeds that come to me go right to paying off the building. The author our collaboration with Buzz Bissinger he takes a piece and that’s for his purposes. Every dime that comes to me goes right to ARF.
ZRock: That’s very nice on your behalf and very commendable.
Tony: Thanks. We’ve gotten a lot of support over the year. We have a seventeen million dollar building and it’s under four million that we owe. We’ve got to keep pushing hard. The book is one of the ways that we’re going to pay it off.
ZRock: I appreciate your time. Best wishes on the rest of the season. I hope to see you at the ARF Rocks! show later this year.
Tony: All right man, I appreciate the attention you give us. Thanks.
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The book is an intimate and revealing look at one of baseball’s best minds at work during a crucial three-game series in 2003 between the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. It should appeal to casual fans and inform the most knowledgeable grandstand managers.
All of which makes 3 Nights in August the perfect printed companion for baseball fans on the day the Texas Rangers make their 2005 home-field debut. Thanks to the Bissinger/LaRussa collaboration, you may find yourself with a fuller comprehension of what you see on the field and don’t see in the dugout. That’s of considerable value.
– Ft. Worth Star-Telegram : April 11, 2005
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Three Nights In August benefit Tony La Russa’s Animal Recue Foundation (ARF). ARF gives another chance at life to dogs and cats who would have otherwise be killed. ARF provides the care and attention they need, including spay or neuter surgery, until ARF finds them a new home of their own.
ARF’s People Connect programs strengthen the human animal bond for the elderly; residents of assisted living centers, teens at juvenile hall, high school students, grade school students and young children through programs that are national models of excellence. ARF programs allow people to experience the unconditional love and acceptance of dogs and cats. People rescuing animals… animals rescuing people.
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buy Three Nights in August now from amazon
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