RetroSimba

Based on his accomplishments, it’s a given Tony La Russa will be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013. The question is: Will he be a unanimous choice of the 16-member Expansion Era committee?

Members of the committee presently include Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, who openly clashed with La Russa when both were with the Cardinals, and Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, who remained more popular than La Russa among some Cardinals fans even when La Russa was leading St. Louis to three pennants and two World Series titles.

After he retired, Smith said he didn’t want to work for the Cardinals until “management changes.” La Russa responded by saying of Smith, “I don’t think he would be good for our ballclub.”

La Russa, who retired in October after managing the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series championship, will be eligible for Hall of Fame election when the Expansion Era committee next convenes at baseball’s winter meetings in 2013.

According to Hall of Fame rules, a candidate must have been a big-league manager for 10 or more years and have been retired for at least five years before he is eligible for election. However, if the retired manager is 65 or older, he becomes eligible just six months after retiring.

La Russa, who managed for 33 years in the major leagues, is 67 and will be eligible for election when the committee meets in 2013 to choose candidates for the Hall of Fame class of 2014, the year La Russa turns 70.

The Expansion Era committee, which considers players, managers, executives and umpires from 1973 to the present, meets every three years, rotating with the Golden Era committee (candidates from 1947-72) and the Pre-Integration Era committee (candidates from 1871-1946).

When it last met in 2010, the Expansion Era committee elected one candidate, big-league executive Pat Gillick, and rejected candidates such as Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons. The committee considers 12 candidates recommended by a screening group. A candidate must receive at least 75 percent of the votes (12 of 16) from the Expansion Era committee to earn election.

In 2013, it’s expected at least three managers _ La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox _ will be among the 12 candidates from a mix of players, managers, executives and umpires.

If La Russa, Torre and Cox all are elected in 2013, it would be the first time three managers are voted in at the same time.

There are 19 big-league managers and one Negro League manager in the Hall of Fame. Three times, two managers were elected in the same year: Connie Mack and John McGraw in 1937, Ned Hanlon and Earl Weaver in 1996, and Billy Southworth and Dick Williams in 2008.

La Russa, Torre and Cox will be under consideration for the first time. Among the many reasons La Russa should be a shoo-in on his first try:

_ La Russa ranks No. 3 all-time in wins by a manager (2,728). He trails only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). Cox ranks fourth at 2,504 and Torre is fifth at 2,326.

_ Only La Russa and Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson managed World Series champions from both the National League and American League.

_ La Russa holds the record for most wins by a Cardinals manager (1,408). He and Southworth are the only managers to win two World Series titles with the Cardinals.

Casey Stengel was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966, one year after he retired as Mets manager at 74, and Tom Lasorda was inducted into the Hall in 1997, one year after he retired as Dodgers manager at 68. Sparky Anderson retired as Tigers manager at 61 in 1995 and was inducted into the Hall five years later in 2000.

But most other managers waited a long time before receiving Hall of Fame honors. For example, Herzog and Southworth, managers who entered the Hall as Cardinals, waited decades. Southworth retired in 1951 and was inducted in 2008. Herzog retired in 1990 and was inducted in 2010.

The 16 members of the Expansion Era committee who voted in Gillick in 2010 and who presumably will be considering La Russa in 2013:

_ Hall of Fame players Johnny Bench, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Frank Robinson, Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith.

_ Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog.

_ Baseball executives Bill Giles, David Glass, Andy MacPhail and Jerry Reinsdorf (the White Sox owner who is a friend of La Russa).

_ Media members Bob Elliott, Tim Kurkjian, Ross Newhan and Tom Verducci.

Unless Smith resigns from the committee or is replaced, it will be fascinating to learn whether he votes for La Russa.

In 1996, La Russa’s first season as Cardinals manager and Smith’s final season as a Cardinals shortstop, La Russa chose to start Royce Clayton ahead of Smith. That decision angered Smith, who said La Russa had promised to choose whichever shortstop played best during spring training. Smith believed he performed better than Clayton and that La Russa had backed down from his promise.

Ten years later, in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Smith said of his relationship with the Cardinals, “At some future point, when things change, when management changes, I’m more than willing to come back.”

La Russa, who had said Smith was welcome to be a Cardinals instructor at spring training, rescinded the offer when he read Smith’s comments in May 2006.

“When my time is up, they can welcome him with open arms,” La Russa said of Smith, “but I don’t want to be anywhere that he is. I won’t ever be around when he’s around … Speaking personally, I don’t think he would be good for our ballclub.”

Herzog never feuded with La Russa, but he did offer mild criticism of La Russa’s 1996 decision to start Clayton over Smith. In his book “You’re Missin’ a Great Game” (1999, Simon & Schuster), Herzog wrote:

I can’t second-guess Tony _ I don’t know the particulars _ but I’d have handled that situation different. I’d have sat Clayton down and said, “Royce, you’re my second baseman for now; when I want to rest Ozzie, you’re going to be my shortstop.” … Ozzie was their best shortstop anyway.

Previously: Tony La Russa was proud pupil of Paul Richards