| Synopsis: |
San Francisco Giants in 1989. In 1988 and 1990, La Russa's Athletics lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds in considerable fashion, despite the fact that the A's were heavily favored on both occasions. He made 2 additional Manager of the Year awards with the A's, in 1988 and 1992, once again gaining the Western Division in the latter year. After the 1995 season, where the A's finished 67-77, the Haas household, with whom La Russa had a close individual relationship, sold the group after the death of patriarch Walter A. Haas, Jr. La Russa left to take over the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals. The group quickly won the National League's Central Division crown in 1996, a job his club replicated in 2000, 2002 (his 4th Manager of the Year award), 2004, 2005, and 2006. He came to be the really first manager to gain the award 4 times. |