Tony LaRussa will not come out of retirement to manage Reds

Despite his ties to Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty, former St. Louis Cardinals’ skipper Tony LaRussa says he will not come out of retirement to manage again, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Since firing manager Dusty Baker on October 6, following an abrupt exit from the postseason, Cincinnati has had a managerial vacancy to fill. Baker went 509-463 as the Reds’ skipper over the course of six seasons, which included three 90-win seasons and three postseason appearances in the last four years, but ownership reportedly believed this was a World Series-caliber team.

Jocketty said that there was plenty of blame to go around for the team’s disappointing finish, but part of that blame did, indeed, belong to Baker.

"Although he’s the one that ran the club every day, there are a lot of areas we can look at that could be to blame here, including the front office, the players, the coaching staff. It’s not only just Dusty."

LaRussa began his managerial career with the Chicago White Sox in 1979, spending eight years in Chicago before heading west to man the helm of the Oakland Athletics for a decade. Lastly, he took over the managerial post of the St. Louis Cardinals, guiding the team to a pair of World Series titles – one in 2006, the other in 2011 – his final season managing.

With over 2,700 career managerial wins, it’s no secret why Jocketty hoped to lure LaRussa out of retirement. He had established himself as one of the game’s best managers years ago and always had a knack for pushing teams that were ‘good’ to that next level.

He won six pennants and three World Series titles during his career, but it appears as if Tony LaRussa will ride off into the sunset with a World Series title in his final season in baseball. Can you really blame him?