In a spring training camp with Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday and Sal Bando, another hitter who caught the eye of Joe DiMaggio was Tony La Russa.
In 1968, DiMaggio was in a green and gold Oakland Athletics uniform, giving instruction to players. La Russa was trying to make the team as a reserve infielder and return to the majors for the first time in five years.
DiMaggio became one of La Russa’s biggest boosters.
Bay Area bonanza
After the 1967 season, the Athletics moved from Kansas City to Oakland. Club owner Charlie Finley approached Joe DiMaggio and offered him a front-office position with the title of executive vice president. DiMaggio accepted, signing a two-year contract.
In explaining why he took the job, DiMaggio said to the Associated Press, “Probably the biggest thing was the shift of the club to Oakland. It’s only 25 minutes from home (in San Francisco).”
During the previous six years, DiMaggio had been a visiting batting instructor at Yankees spring training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but when club co-owner Dan Topping asked him to take a fulltime job, “I turned him down,” DiMaggio said to The Sporting News. “I decided to join Mr. Finley and the A’s because it was home.”
Frank Lane, former general manager of the Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics, said to the San Francisco Examiner, “The smartest move Finley made when he moved to Oakland was to hire DiMaggio. That gave the club instant prestige.”
As The Sporting News noted, Finley and DiMaggio agreed to “an extremely loose arrangement as far as office responsibilities are concerned.” His duties were to include advising on personnel decisions and player transactions.
DiMaggio emphasized he wouldn’t do community relations and promotional tasks. “I’m not going around talking to groups or making appearances at banquets,” he told The Sporting News. “As I understand the job, I’ll be busy all of the time with player personnel, working on possible trades and serving as an adviser.”
At the baseball winter meetings in Mexico City in December 1967, DiMaggio “was much in evidence (as) the spokesman for the club,” The Sporting News reported. When Athletics manager Bob Kennedy asked him to be an instructor at spring training, DiMaggio said yes.
Advanced placement
On Feb. 26, 1968, when the Athletics had their first spring workout at Bradenton, Fla., DiMaggio, 53, was in uniform. According to the Bradenton Herald, he “posed obligingly for photographers, chatted freely with reporters and smilingly handed out autographs.” He also gave batting tips to a 22-year-old catcher, Dave Duncan.
United Press International columnist Milton Richman was impressed by how DiMaggio fit in. “He hangs his street clothes in the same simple wooden lockers as the players do,” Richman observed. “His locker is between those of coaches Sherm Lollar and John McNamara.”
DiMaggio became engaged in the instructor’s role. He enjoyed working with the players and connected with them.
“This kid Rick Monday is shaping up as a hell of a fine ballplayer,” DiMaggio said to Richman. “He’s only 22 and I like the way he swings the bat. He bears down all the time … This boy knows he’s good, but he’ll listen when you tell him something.
“There’s another outfielder, Reggie Jackson, I’ve been working with. He’ll take a little time to learn, but he’s going to be a good one, too.”
DiMaggio worked with Jackson on hitting, fielding and base running. “He’s such a symbol of greatness to a ballplayer, something to strive for, someone to get approval from,” Jackson said to The Sporting News. “It would be embarrassing not to hustle in front of such a man.”
After seeing DiMaggio swing the bat, Jackson told columnist Joe Falls, “He’s the Rope Man. He hangs out those frozen ropes.”
Asked about his approach to teaching, DiMaggio said to Jack Hand of the Associated Press, “There is no set way of hitting. One fellow bats one way, another has a different style. Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby all had different styles, but they followed the same fundamentals. The main thing is being comfortable, holding the head rigid, taking a short stride, having the bat ready to swing.
“You can’t tell anybody how to hit. Nobody ever tried to teach me. If I tried to bat like Stan Musial, all curled up in that crouch, I’d be wound up in a knot. It’s the same way with my wide stance. A lot of fellows couldn’t do it my way. I didn’t start out that way either.
“If I see a fellow who has a decided weakness, I’ll talk to him. I wouldn’t try to change a player unless he has been around a while and had not shown any improvement.”
Strong man
Tony La Russa was 18 when he debuted in the majors with the 1963 Athletics. He spent the next four seasons in the minors. Injuries played a part in stalling his career. He dislocated his right shoulder twice, tore ligaments in his right knee, and injured his back and throwing arm.
When he got to spring training in 1968, La Russa, 23, told the Oakland Tribune, “I worked pretty hard during the winter to strengthen the spots where I had my injuries. I feel 100 percent now and I don’t feel I’m injury prone.”
Working with weights at a Tampa gym, La Russa bulked up and was bigger than his listed weight of 175 pounds. The Bradenton Herald described him as having “tremendously thick forearms and wrists, and Ted Kluszewski-sized biceps.”
“I’m staying right at 195 pounds now and never felt better,” La Russa said to reporter Vince Smith. “I figured I’d better start doing something about building myself up. If I was bigger and stronger, I wouldn’t be getting hurt all the time.”
Second base was La Russa’s best position, but the Athletics had John Donaldson and Dick Green there. Manager Bob Kennedy viewed La Russa as a backup to Sal Bando at third and possibly Bert Campaneris at shortstop, and planned to play him at those spots throughout spring training.
(“I’m the most uncomfortable at third,” La Russa said to the Oakland Tribune.)
Asked about La Russa, Kennedy said to the San Francisco Examiner, “We’re looking at the kid as a top prospect for infield utility duty … We certainly don’t want to give up on him. We feel there’s a good chance he’ll help us.”
DiMaggio took an interest in La Russa. After watching La Russa take swings in the batting cage at spring training, he offered advice. “He told me he noticed I had a little hitch in my swing and I was letting the ball get by me before I had my wrists cocked,” La Russa told the Bradenton Herald. “When he tells me something like that, naturally I’m going to listen.”
DiMaggio said to the Herald, “I think he really has a chance to make it. When you get the injuries this kid has had since he started, you never really get a chance to get going. He seems to be in real good shape out here now. He swings that bat and he swings it pretty good.”
According to the Oakland Tribune, La Russa went on to lead the Athletics in hitting (.364) in spring training games and earned a spot on the 1968 Opening Day roster as a backup infielder.
Highs and lows
Near the end of spring training, DiMaggio agreed to Kennedy’s request to be a coach all season. “He will be on the bench with me,” Kennedy said to The Sporting News. “This entails a fulltime duty with the club. I can think of no better man to teach young hitters and young outfielders than Joe DiMaggio.”
In explaining why he accepted the role, DiMaggio said to the Oakland Tribune, “These kids we have are the major reason I’ve decided to coach. They’re just great. I’ve become attached to them and the club. I think I can do a service.”
In introductions before the Athletics’ home opener on April 17, 1968, DiMaggio got the loudest ovation from the crowd of 50,164. Gov. Ronald Reagan threw the ceremonial first pitch and was booed, the Oakland Tribune reported.
In the game that followed, Dave McNally of the Orioles held the Athletics to two hits _ a Rick Monday home run and pinch-hit single by La Russa. Boxscore
Three weeks later, after just three at-bats, La Russa was placed on waivers and went unclaimed. The Athletics sent him to their Vancouver farm club and called up outfielder Joe Rudi.
DiMaggio had a successful season as a coach. As The Sporting News noted, “Being a coach in uniform this year has enabled DiMaggio to escape a desk job with vague responsibilities and ill-defined duties, and make a real contribution to the team. His mere presence has inspired the young A’s players, who hold him in high esteem but not the overwhelming awe they showed him when he first appeared in spring training.”
The 1968 Athletics finished 82-80, but Bob Kennedy was fired and replaced by Hank Bauer, who had been DiMaggio’s outfield teammate with the Yankees. DiMaggio said he didn’t want to coach again in 1969, the last year of his contract, but Bauer convinced him to change his mind.
La Russa began the 1969 season in the minors at Des Moines, hit .306 and got called up to the Athletics in June after Dick Green tore knee ligaments. La Russa got only eight at-bats with the 1969 Athletics and went hitless.
RetroSimba 
I loved this one (for obvious reasons) because you peppered in some things that I didn’t know with the things I did. How great is that?
Another tidbit (that I’m almost 100 percent sure you know, Mark) DiMaggio is said to have had an instant — and lasting — effect via the power of observation. As the story goes, DiMaggio was walking around Oakland Coliseum in advance of the ’68 season when he noticed that the views of home plate were obscured in portions of the upper deck. So officials moved the infield further from the backstop. To this day, the A’s home has the largest foul territory in the big leagues.
Thanks for the story of Joe DiMaggio helping the upper deck ticket buyers get a complete view of home plate, Gary. Good one. I didn’t know that.
Another anecdote I liked that I came across in researching this piece was about the the old-timers event held at Oakland Coliseum on Aug. 18, 1968, before a Yankees vs. A’s game. It was Casey Stengel Day at the Coliseum and the Ol’ Perfesser was being feted for his work as manager of the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks. A two-inning “game” between alumni of the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Seals was scheduled before the Yankees-A’s game. The DiMaggio brothers, Joe, Dom, Vince, agreed to play the outfield together for the Seals. A crowd of 41,044, largest since the home opener, came out on the Sunday afternoon. Stengel managed the Oaks and Lefty O’Doul managed the Seals. Dom DiMaggio and Joe DiMaggio each singled in the first inning but the Oaks won, 3-1. Billy Martin played for the Oaks. According to The Sporting News, the umpires for the exhibition were comedians Tom Smothers and Pat Paulsen.
Another post that I enjoyed reading. Thanks Mark. As I’ve said in the past, I almost always learn something new. This is no exception. I didn’t know about Joe DiMaggio’s stint with the Oakland A’s. Also, I had no idea about all those injuries that Tony LaRussa had during his minor league days. You can’t deny that Joe DiMaggio had an incredibly positive influence on those early Oakland teams. Especially when the players themselves express how appreciative they were of the baseball knowledge and teaching skills of Joe DiMaggio. I took a little time to look at the roster of the 1967 Kansas City A’s. It’s pretty amazing to consider that there were already 12 players on that roster who would go on to win at least one World Series with Oakland.
I always look forward to your comments, Phillip.
The A’s sure did have a terrific pipeline of talent coming from the farm system then.
It seemed Joe DiMaggio helped A’s players in multiple ways. For example, regarding approach to at-bats, he told The Sporting News, “I just try to give them some little hints so they can start thinking with the pitchers, so they won’t be so anxious with men on base.”
It must have been a jolt for Tony La Russa to be returned to the minors after such a short stint with the 1968 A’s but he brought a professional attitude to the Vancouver Mounties the rest of that season. According to the Vancouver Sun, La Russa “is one of the most dedicated players in the Pacific Coast League. He knows only one way to approach a game and that is to hustle until you simply run out of breath.”
After the 1968 season, La Russa was made available in the American League expansion draft but neither the Kansas City Royals nor the Seattle Pilots was interested in him.
As Catfish Hunter told it, on May 8, 1968 he was taking batting practice when Bob Kennedy told him, “Get out of the cage, you can’t hit.” Hunter said hey, I’m the starting pitcher, I get to hit, and Kennedy said, “get out of the cage and let the real hitters hit.” In the game, Hunter had 3 hits and 3 RBI, and pitched decently too.
Good story. Catfish Hunter could hit but the Minnesota Twins couldn’t that day. Hunter pitched a perfect game against them.
Just five days earlier, May 3, 1968, Hunter had three hits and two RBI in a win against the Red Sox at Boston.
Then on May 8 at the Oakland Coliseum, Hunter was in the batting cage before the game against the Twins when manager Bob Kennedy chased him out. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Kennedy quipped, “Pitchers don’t hit.” Hunter said with a grin to the Examiner, “That got me mad.”
Hunter told the Palo Alto Times, “I guess I was a little mad after our manager told me to get out of the batting cage during batting practice. He said I was wasting time because pitchers couldn’t hit anyway.”
According to United Press International, Kennedy was needling Hunter when he chased him out of the batting cage, saying he wanted his regulars to get in more hitting.
Hunter doubled versus Dave Boswell in the third inning but was stranded. In the seventh, with the game scoreless, Hunter drove in the first run. His squeeze bunt single scored Rick Monday from third. In the eighth, with the score 2-0, the A’s had the bases loaded, two outs, and Hunter due up. According to United Press International, Kennedy needled him again. “I’ll think I’ll pull you now for a pinch-hitter,” Kennedy said. Hunter told the wire service, “That made me particularly anxious to hit.” Hunter delivered a two-run single against Ron Perranoski.
In remarks to the Oakland Tribune, Joe DiMaggio said of Hunter’s perfect game and 3-RBI performance, “This was a masterpiece. I’ve seen terrific competitors on those great Yankees teams of the past, but this kid wouldn’t have to take a back seat to any of them.”
According to the Oakland newspaper, DiMaggio asked for a baseball. “I want Hunter to autograph it for me,” he said.
I was under the wrong impression that DiMaggio wasn’t a people person, that he sort of minded his own business. I couldn’t have been more wrong. How fortunate it must have been to be a member of those A’s teams and learn from him. I like his approach as a coach, to not necessarily change a batter’s stance and approach, but to let them be themselves.
Joe DiMaggio seemed to thoroughly enjoy that 1968 season with the A’s and it brought out sides of him not often seen in public.
One of the highlights for DiMaggio that year came in Milwaukee. On July 22, 1968, the A’s played the Chicago White Sox in a regular-season game at Milwaukee’s County Stadium.
Before the game, former Cleveland Indians third baseman Ken Keltner, a Milwaukee native and Wisconsin resident, visited with DiMaggio at the ballpark and they posed for pictures. Keltner is the fielder who snared two DiMaggio shots in the July 17, 1941, game that ended DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.
DiMaggio then took batting practice with the A’s in preparation for an upcoming Yankees old-timers game. According to the Oakland Tribune, DiMaggio hit a batting practice home run over the railing in left at County Stadium “and got congratulated by the young A’s as if the blast had just won a game for them.”
In a ceremony at home plate, Milwaukeeans honored DiMaggio for his career feats by presenting him with a plaque and fishing gear. According to the Oakland Tribune, DiMaggio stepped to a microphone and told the Monday night crowd of 30,818, “You’re a big-league crowd. You’ve given me a big-league welcome.”
The fans then were entertained by the banjo strumming of former Milwaukee Braves manager Charlie Grimm and the singing of Della Reese.
In the game that followed, Catfish Hunter hurled a shutout and the A’s beat the White Sox. The A’s got home runs from Dave Duncan (against Eddie Fisher) and Reggie Jackson (against Hoyt Wilhelm). Here is the box score: https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1968/B07220CHA1968.htm
What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing that. Musta been thrilling to see DiMaggio take batting practice. And that part about Keltner snagging two of DiMaggio’s drives in game 56. Fascinating because I think he went on to hit in 20 or more games after that.
This is when I first remember following the game of baseball, and the Oakland A’s immediately became my favorite team (even more so than my hometown Phillies!). I just loved their uniforms, and the fact they were in Cali. Rick Monday also became my favorite player (I liked his name, jersey number, and position). So needless to say, I was completely devastated when my newly-minted favorite team traded my newly-minted favorite baseball player for Ken Holtzman a couple of years later. Even at a young age, I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the A’s sent him to the Cubs.
Thanks for sharing that, Bruce.
I was part of a panel that interviewed Rick Monday at the Vero Beach (Fla.) Book Festival on Nov. 17, 2007. He resides in Vero Beach during the baseball off-season. Monday was warm and gracious and told fun anecdotes.
Monday told the Oakland Tribune that A’s owner Charlie Finley called him on Nov. 29, 1971, to inform him of the trade to the Cubs for Ken Holtzman. “Baseball is like a business,” Monday said to the Oakland newspaper, “and I have to look at it like a businessman. I have to go where my employment takes me.”
He later told the Chicago Tribune, “When the news from Finley sunk in, I convinced myself it was a chance for a fresh start in a great town with a ballclub that has pennant potential. You can truthfully say I’m overwhelmed to be a Chicago Cub.”
Monday could have gone to the Chicago White Sox instead. According to the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox offered pitcher Tommy John and infielder Mike Andrews to the A’s for Monday, but Finley took the Cubs offer.
The Los Angeles Times once speculated what would happen if actress Tuesday Weld married Rick Monday. Would she be Tuesday Monday?
Tuesday Monday has a very nice ring to it. 💍 Didn’t know about the White Sox offer. Boy, I wish he had stayed an Athletic!