St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa retires

By Richard K. Barry

(Ed. note: I would just note, for what it's worth, that La Russa is a Teabagger and Glenn Beck enthusiast who supported Arizona's draconian anti-immigrant bill. Oh, and a wildly overrated manager as well.  But I suppose we have to be nice to the old coot, right? -- MJWS)

How many of us can imagine retiring from our chosen career days after achieving the greatest success possible in that endeavour? It is no doubt remarkable that Tony La Russa announced his retirement as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals shortly after leading them to a World Series title. He clearly felt the time was right.

For the record, as a manager, La Russa won 2,728 games over 33 seasons with the Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago White Sox. In all, he won six pennants and three World Series titles.

There is no way to know what it must feel like to walk away, as La Russa is doing, at this very moment, but he seems at peace with himself. As he told an AP reporter, "[o]ther than some of the personal attachments, I feel good. I feel that this is the right decision."

To every season, I suppose.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)