Red Sox hire former D-backs executive Tony La Russa
Nov 2, 2017, 9:31 AM
(AP Photo/Matt York, File)
(AP Photo/Matt York, File)
The Boston Red Sox have hired former Arizona Diamondbacks executive Tony La Russa as vice president and special assistant to the president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, the team announced Thursday.
La Russa, 73, spent the past four seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization. In 2017, he advised the baseball operations department in all areas of the game. He spent his first three seasons with the Diamondbacks as chief baseball officer.
“I am grateful to everyone in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for the opportunity to complete my baseball education,” La Russa said in a statement. “After years in uniform and working with the Commissioner and many special members of Major League Baseball, being a part of the D-backs was both exciting and educational.”
The 2017 season marked La Russa’s 56th year in professional baseball. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 by the Expansion Era Committee. In 33 seasons as a big league manager from 1979-2011 with the Chicago White Sox (1979-86), Oakland Athletics (1986-95) and St. Louis Cardinals (1996-2011), he compiled a .536 winning percentage (2,728-2,365) and won three World Series titles in 1989, 2006 and 2011.
The Baseball Writers Association of America also awarded La Russa its manager of the year award four times (1983, 1988, 1992, 2002).
