Congratulations Tony La Russa and Joe Torre

As you are probably aware if you read this blog regularly, I am a big St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan.

So with that in mind let me say congratulations to two former Cardinal managers, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre who were inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this afternoon.  I wasn't always a fan of La Russa's, especially when he decided to bat the pitcher eight, but I do respect what he did and what he has done for the game of baseball.  La Russa won three World Series.  He won one of the Series with Oakland in '89 and the other two with the Cardinals in '06 and '11.

Joe Torre played for and managed the Cardinals during his career. He played third base for the Redbirds in the early 70's and in 1971 won the National League MVP award for the monstrous year he had at the plate. As a teenager I can remember going to Busch Stadium and knowing that Torre would be hitting wicked line drives against whomever the opponent sent out.  Torre, as he stated in his induction speech, was elected to the Hall of Fame for one reason; he won four World Series while managing the New York Yankees. But, he also managed the Cardinals in the early to mid '90s.  Those teams weren't very good and Torre didn't have much talent to manage.  Still, I always liked the way he handled his pitching staff and his regulars.

Again, congratulations Joe Torre and Tony La Russa!