Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Majerus paid homage and congratulations to the recently retired St. Louis Cardinals Manager and coaching contemporary Tony La Russa.
Majerus sounded off on La Russa’s zeal, burning desire to win and relentless pursuit of perfection in the imperfect game of baseball—qualities a coach of any sport can appreciate.
With the Cardinals fresh off their World Series Championship, Majerus said, “I congratulate the Cardinals, but especially La Russa. He’s inspirational to me in terms of his dedication, passion and singleness of purpose. The guy is unbelievable, particularly at age 66.”
The pair of gentlemen, both in their mid-60s and known for their cerebral approach to their games, have won a grand total of 3,219 games combined in their illustrious careers.
“La Russa is a manager’s manager,” Majerus said. “He’s detailed to a fault. He’s precise. Just study him, talking to players that played against him and with him, and for him especially. With La Russa, there’s no detail left untouched.”
Although the two reside in the same hotel during their seasons, the two are merely acquaintances and do not consider each other close friends. With La Russa’s Cardinals competing in the summer and usually into October and Majerus’ Billikens tipping things off in November, there is little free time in common for them to shoot the breeze.
Their common living arrangements did lead to one occurrence where La Russa exhibited his notable compassionate side off the diamond.
Majerus’ secretary was carrying his laundry up to his room when La Russa spotted the struggling woman, who was unaware of who La Russa was. The Cardinals manager happily offered to take the load for her.
“That always struck me,” Majerus said. “He has that reputation [in St. Louis] of being an every man, a great guy.”
Majerus had tickets to the World Series games, but the contests conflicted with his team’s practice schedule. He was unable to attend any of the games.
Although La Russa has made it clear he wishes to spend more time with his family during his retirement, perhaps he will carve out some free time to make an appearance at Chaifetz Arena to soak up some Billiken basketball.
