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" I'm not a big 'Moneyball' fan. "
Tony La Russa
Fan
Big
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" 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. "
Tony La Russa
You
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" 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. "
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He
Had
Said
" The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too. "
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Power
Bigger
Hit
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Society
Job
Elephant
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Great
Along
Life
" If you watch the history of baseball, teams come back, and sometimes they could have come back, but they give in or give up. "
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Sometimes
History
" I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have. "
Tony La Russa
Character
Great
Me
" There are always distractions, if you allow them. "
Tony La Russa
You
Allow
Always
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Easy
Mirror
Look
" We're all men, not machines. We make mistakes. "
Tony La Russa
Machines
Mistakes
Men
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Coaching
Together
Talk
" Losing sucks. I don't think most people understand how bad it feels. "
Tony La Russa
Think
Losing
Bad
" 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
Me
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Price
You
Responsibility
" I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing. "
Tony La Russa
Player
Managing
Experience
" I think the game is so mental. If you sit around and you're mentally strong, you're ready. "
Tony La Russa
You
Mental
Game
" I don't miss being in the dugout - I'll make that clear. "
Tony La Russa
Make
Dugout
Clear
" 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
" You know, I think when you coach or you manage, you make decisions, and there's some that are really, really tough. "
Tony La Russa
You
Decisions
Some
" Anything that disturbs your comfort factor is good for you. "
Tony La Russa
Your
Anything
Comfort
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Baseball
Animals
You
" Clubs are taking away the steal of home. Not only are more pitchers throwing out of the stretch position, but more third basemen are playing closer to the bag. But another reason why nobody does it much anymore is that some guys, no matter how fast they are, just aren't comfortable trying to steal home. "
Tony La Russa
Fast
Trying
Nobody
" When you don't have the deepest pockets, you better have the best scouting and development. "
Tony La Russa
Development
Deepest
Better
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Run
Moving
Start
" I can only think of about four players who I do not have anywhere from a good to a great relationship with. "
Tony La Russa
Good
Relationship
Think
" It's a sensitive thing, playing major league baseball. "
Tony La Russa
Sensitive
Major
Playing
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Know
Plan
Say
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
Winning
Awe
Great
" 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. "
Tony La Russa
You
Just
Stand Up
" If you seriously aspire to be a manager in the big leagues, there is a baseball 'book' that one must learn. Alongside that book, you must practice Spanish. Of 25 players on each roster, sometimes there are between eight and 15 players who speak Spanish. "
Tony La Russa
You
Speak
Practice