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" 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. "

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" 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. "

Tony La Russa

Survival

Baseball

Competition

" 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. "

" 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 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. "

Tony La Russa

School

Lawyer

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

" 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 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. "

" 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. "

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

Tony La Russa

You

Effort

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

" 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. "

" Anything that disturbs your comfort factor is good for you. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" You can't put a price on what Mark McGwire brings to the Cardinals organization. The responsibility he accepts is as great as any number of home runs. "

" We're all men, not machines. We make mistakes. "

" 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. "

Tony La Russa

Had

Said

" You know, I think when you coach or you manage, you make decisions, and there's some that are really, really tough. "

" Winning in Oakland in '89 was distinguished because that was truly a great team on a mission to prove that '88 was not what we represented. I look at that team in awe. It was a push-button team. "

" It's a sensitive thing, playing major league baseball. "

" My wife and I, we started a foundation about companion animal rescue, but there's a group called Performing Animal Welfare Society just outside of Sacramento... and they offered me a job as an elephant keeper. "

" I'm not a big 'Moneyball' fan. "

Tony La Russa

Fan

Big

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

" 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. "

" 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 was in the American League for 16, 17 years, and I think it's a really tough league to compete in. "

" I don't miss being in the dugout - I'll make that clear. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" There are always distractions, if you allow them. "