RetroSimba

(Updated Oct. 29, 2020)

Kansas City was a fitting site for Tony La Russa’s appearance as a manager in the All-Star Game.

La Russa, who left the Cardinals after leading them to the 2011 World Series title, came back and managed the National League to an 8-0 victory in the All-Star Game on July 10, 2012, at Kansas City. Boxscore

Kansas City was where La Russa scored his first big-league run, and had his first big-league at-bat and first big-league hit, when he was a rookie infielder for the Athletics in 1963.

Prime prospect

La Russa was a 17-year-old shortstop for Jefferson High School in Tampa, Fla., when he was signed by the Athletics to a package worth $100,000 on June 7, 1962, the same night he received his high school diploma. He batted .479 his senior season.

La Russa was signed by Athletics scout Charlie Gassaway and supervisor of scouts Joe Bowman. Because Major League Baseball didn’t have a draft at that time, any team could bid for a prospect. According to The Sporting News, 17 scouts representing 14 teams approached La Russa. The Yankees and Indians joined the Athletics as top bidders.

“We think he is one of the outstanding infielders in the country,” Bowman said. “He is the highest-priced infielder Kansas City ever signed.”

Athletics owner Charlie Finley met with La Russa to seal the deal, which included $8,000 toward a college education, plus a new car. La Russa chose a white Pontiac Bonneville with black leather interior, according to the book “Tony La Russa, Man on a Mission.”

Rushed to majors

After a summer of minor-league baseball in 1962, La Russa returned home to Tampa. While playing in a softball game, he injured his throwing arm, according to the “Man on a Mission” book. With his right arm in a sling, La Russa was unable to play in spring training for the Athletics in 1963.

La Russa, 18, made his major-league debut on May 10, 1963, as a pinch-runner for Chuck Essegian in the eighth inning of the Athletics’ game against the Twins at Minnesota. Boxscore

Utilized primarily as a pinch-runner by manager Eddie Lopat, La Russa appeared in his first 14 big-league games without an at-bat. He scored his first big-league run on July 13, 1963, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Indians at Kansas City.

Running for Gino Cimoli, La Russa scored from second on a bases-loaded double by Jerry Lumpe in the fifth inning. The game is noteworthy, not for La Russa’s run, but because Indians pitcher Early Wynn earned his 300th and last major-league win. Boxscore

A month later, La Russa got his first at-bat. It occurred on a Thursday afternoon, Aug. 15, 1963, at Kansas City. After replacing Lumpe at second base in the fifth inning, La Russa faced Tigers starter Hank Aguirre in the sixth and flied out to center fielder Bill Bruton. Boxscore

La Russa’s first major-league hit came two days later at Kansas City. Pinch-hitting in the sixth for pitcher Bill Fischer, La Russa hit a two-out triple to right off Orioles starter Steve Barber, a 20-game winner that year. Boxscore

According to the “Man on a Mission” book, La Russa, near the end of the season, told a Kansas City reporter, “I know I’ll be sent down next season and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve learned a lot from our players and also by watching such fine shortstops as (Wayne) Causey, Luis Aparicio, Zoilo Versailles and others. I’ve had plenty of help from everyone on the club, especially catcher Charlie Lau, who detected a hitch in my swing at the plate.”

It would be five years before La Russa would return to the major leagues. By then, the Athletics had moved from Kansas City to Oakland.