Quotes from Tony La Russa

What you end up doing is you try to match your guy's strength against a place they can be successful. They're doing the same thing against us. Sometimes they have the edge, sometimes you have the edge.

I've been so fortunate in life to have worked for such great organizations, with great owners and general managers and all the great players, along with the support of my family.

You've got to acknowledge what you did wrong and see if you can fix it to the extent possible, and turn the page.

If you like to run and the guys can't run, you don't run. If you like power, and you have guys that can't hit it out of the park, then you start moving guys around.

It's a sensitive thing, playing major league baseball.

Losing sucks. I don't think most people understand how bad it feels.

It's a really neat and special coincidence, but it's nothing but a coincidence. This wasn't set up to give Matt that honor. It's just the way it worked out. It's a neat extra.

I think there's a growing number of pitchers who want to have a plan going into a game about how they're going to go after that lineup. I'd say 75 percent want to have an idea, and they plan their attack. I know that 75 percent of hitters do not have that same type of plan against a pitcher.

When you don't have the deepest pockets, you better have the best scouting and development.

I was in the American League for 16, 17 years, and I think it's a really tough league to compete in.

There's a bigger difference now than when I first got into professional baseball because that was before guaranteed contracts, before there was a lot of money, so it was mostly survival. You had more competition.

I think each negotiation should be based on what's the best decision - taking everything into account, not taking one thing into account.

My wife and I, we started a foundation about companion animal rescue, but there's a group called Performing Animal Welfare Society just outside of Sacramento... and they offered me a job as an elephant keeper.

I think the guys that get to the All-Star Game deserve a lot of credit. They deserve their opportunity to get out there and let the baseball fandom see them.

Just because you're down to your last strike, you're not out yet. You can always do more. You'll always have more at-bats to take. That's true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life generally.

You can't put a price on what Mark McGwire brings to the Cardinals organization. The responsibility he accepts is as great as any number of home runs.

There are always distractions, if you allow them.

Anything that disturbs your comfort factor is good for you.

I'm a great believer in the character of the club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have.

The thing I learned when I was playing was that your best way of winning was to make it difficult for the other team to score in the last three innings.

Winning in Oakland in '89 was distinguished because that was truly a great team on a mission to prove that '88 was not what we represented. I look at that team in awe. It was a push-button team.

If the national government doesn't fix your problem, you've got a problem. You've got to fix it yourself. That's just part of the American way.

The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too.

In the end, as a manager or coach, you have to keep your heart pure and do your best as a manager or a coach.