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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Tony La Russa on 
4his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and
  
 
5    WHEREAS, Tony La Russa began his managerial career in 1979 
6when the Chicago White Sox took a chance on a law school 
7graduate, giving him his first big-league job; he won one 
8division title during his 8 years in Chicago and won his first 
9manager of the year award in 1983; and
  
 
10    WHEREAS, Tony La Russa moved on to Oakland in 1986, where 
11he spent 10 years with the Oakland A's and won 4 American 
12League West titles, 3 pennants, and the 1989 World Series; he 
13won 2 more manager of the year awards and became one of the 
14more prominent and successful managers in baseball during his 
15time in Oakland; and
  
 
16    WHEREAS, Tony La Russa's greatest success began in 1996 
17when he took over the St. Louis Cardinals; he managed for 16 
18seasons in St. Louis, the most by a Cardinals manager in 
19franchise history; he won more games than any Cardinals manager 
20in team history and earned 52% of his career victories as a 
21Cardinal; he managed 5,097 Major League Baseball games in total 
22and 51% of those games were spent in the Cardinals dugout; as a 
 
 
HR0815- 2 -LRB098 20052 GRL 55290 r

1St. Louis Cardinal, he won 6 division titles, 3 pennants, and 2 
2World Series titles, including one in 2011, his last season as 
3a manager; and

  
 
4    WHEREAS, Tony La Russa led all 3 franchises into the 
5postseason, but 50 of his 70 career postseason victories came 
6as the Cardinals manager; he finished with the third most wins 
7by a manager in a career that ended in 2011 with a record of 
82,728 wins and 2,365 losses; it has been said that he became a 
9big-league manager in Chicago, a great manager in Oakland, and 
10a Hall of Fame manager in St. Louis; therefore, be it
  
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
12NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
13we congratulate Tony La Russa on his unanimous induction into 
14the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and be it further
  
 
15    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
16presented to Tony La Russa as a symbol of our respect and 
17esteem.