It’s not often that I get to say this…but on Friday, Tony LaRussa and I pretty much started our day the same.
We both got up out of bed, probably ate a good meal or two then made our way to Miller Park in Milwaukee.
The similarities between me and the St. Louis Cardinals skipper probably ends there.
Sure, sure, we both got to see Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda (me from the stands…LaRussa up close), we both survived what Brewers officials called a “kettle corn fire” and we both witnessed the glory that is Milwaukee’s mascot Bernie Brewer slide down that yellow slide.
Twice.
But while I’ve seen a number of baseball games in my lifetime, Friday’s contest between the Cardinals and Brewers marked LaRussa’s 5000th regular season game as a manager. All I had to show for my day was a day at the zoo and witnessing a fight on my way to dinner.
The advantage to the four-time manager of the year I suppose.
And in case you’re wondering, the 66-year-old would need to manage 17 more years to catch record holder Connie Mack at 7755 games managed.
Also, it seems pretty unlikely anyone will approach LaRussa for a while.
Detroit Tigers skipper Jim Leyland is closest, but he’s nearly 2000 games behind. After that…only Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy are the only active managers with at least 2600 games managed.
Oh, yeah, one last thing…the Cardinals lost 8-0, putting LaRussa’s career record at 2676-2320-4.
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