Tony La Russa

[Brandon Glick]

Anthony La Russa Jr., known in the baseball sphere as Tony La Russa, is a Hall of Fame manager, and is well known by Cubs fans as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1996-2011. He also played one game for the Cubs in the 1973 season.

This is going to be a shorter entry than others, if only because La Russa's mark on baseball came after his playing days, which were relatively short and unremarkable. He played in 34 games in the 1963 season with the Kansas City Athletics as a "bonus baby", slashing just .250/.346/.318. He wouldn't return to the big leagues for five full seasons(!), appearing in brief cups of coffee with the now-Oakland A's in 1968 and 1969 before establishing himself as a bench player in 1970. The team traded him to the Atlanta Braves late in the 1971 season, whom he took just seven at-bats for.

While with Atlanta's Triple-A affiliate in 1972, the Braves traded La Russa to the Cubs for reliever Tom Phoebus (who never appeared in a major league game again following the deal). La Russa made the team out of Spring Training in 1973, and was on the Chicago Cubs' Opening Day roster in 1973. Other names on that squad include Cubs luminaries Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins, and Rick Monday. 

Thus, on Friday, April 6, 1973, La Russa made his Cubs debut, as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of a 2-1 ballgame against the Montreal Expos. After Joe Pepitone and Ron Santo got on base to start the inning, TLR pinch ran for the latter (Cleo James ran for the former), and moved over to third base thanks walks worked by Glenn Beckert and Randy Hundley. With the game tied at 2-2, Monday came up with the bases loaded and drew his own walk, sending La Russa to the plate for the walk-off run. Yes, in his only career appearance with the Cubs, La Russa scored the winning run.

His time with the big league squad wouldn't last much longer, as he was optioned to Triple-A Wichita in mid-April when reliever Dave LaRoche was activated of the disabled list. He finished out that 1973 season with the Cubs, and played four more minor league seasons with the Pirates, White Sox, and Cardinals before hanging up his cleats as a player. That, of course, would give way to an illustrious managerial career that spanned from 1979-2022 (with a decade hiatus between 2011-21).

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