Couple of insightful quotes from Tony La Russa in a USA Today article today:
"[Former manager Paul Richards] would say, 'They pay you to do what you think is right. Trust your gut, don't cover your butt,'" La Russa says. "The guys who are not trying to cover butt last longer than the guys who are worried about how this is going to look."
"He's brilliant and he's creative and he's daring," says Roland Hemond, who as White Sox general manager hired the unproven La Russa at 34 in 1979. "He's not afraid to go against the conventional style that has prevailed through the annals of baseball. He gets a lot of mileage out of the fact he's a great student of the game and is well prepared."
"If you do something they think is a little bit innovative or different, 'Oh, he's overmanaging,"' La Russa says of his detractors. "But if you sit there and don't take out the pitcher, you undermanage. So in the end, you know what you learn? If whatever you do works, it makes sense. If it doesn't work, it's a bad decision. You just do the best you can."
Posts
