sportsjabber.net

Tony La Russa retired from the St. Louis Cardinals after winning the World Series, and in 33 seasons with three teams, he won six pennants and three championships. Just as impressive, his career 2738-2365 record. That’s 5097 games, or 15,291 different situational relievers. Quite the career.

La Russa retired with the third-most wins as a manager, behind Connie Mack (3731 wins) and John McGraw (2763). That leaves Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers as the new active leader in managerial wins. Well, he’s not really active, per se — he kind likes to sit there and smoke when he gets the chance — but he is employed, and his 1588 wins ranks 18th all-time among all managers.

After Leyland, it’s Dusty Baker (1484 wins), Bruce Bochy (1360), and Davey Johnson (1188) at the top of the list for active managers. To give some perspective on how long La Russa has been around, Johnson would have to manage a 100-win team for the next 15-plus seasons to catch La Russa; Leyland would have to do it for 11-plus seasons.

If it seems like La Russa has been around forever, it’s because he has.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/10/31/2526776/tony-la-russa-retires-retirement-cardinals-manager