Tony La Russa

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.

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.

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.

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.

Losing sucks. I don't think most people understand how bad it feels.

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.

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

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.

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.

I'm not going to manage again. I'm going to work for a team someday. But it won't be managing.

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.

I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing.

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.

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

Ever since I managed with guaranteed contracts and all the media, you know, you can get distracted by fame and fortune. Your values can get distorted. And the way you break through is, you just keep it personal and keep it simple and basic.

You've got to acknowledge what you did wrong and see if you can fix it to the extent possible, and turn the page.

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

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.

I think the game is so mental. If you sit around and you're mentally strong, you're ready.

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.

When you don't have the deepest pockets, you better have the best scouting and development.

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.