HR0815 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0815 LRB098 20052 GRL 55290 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Tony La Russa on his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Tony La Russa began his managerial career in 1979 when the Chicago White Sox took a chance on a law school graduate, giving him his first big-league job; he won one division title during his 8 years in Chicago and won his first manager of the year award in 1983; and

WHEREAS, Tony La Russa moved on to Oakland in 1986, where he spent 10 years with the Oakland A's and won 4 American League West titles, 3 pennants, and the 1989 World Series; he won 2 more manager of the year awards and became one of the more prominent and successful managers in baseball during his time in Oakland; and

WHEREAS, Tony La Russa's greatest success began in 1996 when he took over the St. Louis Cardinals; he managed for 16 seasons in St. Louis, the most by a Cardinals manager in franchise history; he won more games than any Cardinals manager in team history and earned 52% of his career victories as a Cardinal; he managed 5,097 Major League Baseball games in total and 51% of those games were spent in the Cardinals dugout; as a St. Louis Cardinal, he won 6 division titles, 3 pennants, and 2 World Series titles, including one in 2011, his last season as a manager; and

WHEREAS, Tony La Russa led all 3 franchises into the postseason, but 50 of his 70 career postseason victories came as the Cardinals manager; he finished with the third most wins by a manager in a career that ended in 2011 with a record of 2,728 wins and 2,365 losses; it has been said that he became a big-league manager in Chicago, a great manager in Oakland, and a Hall of Fame manager in St. Louis; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Tony La Russa on his unanimous induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Tony La Russa as a symbol of our respect and esteem.