ST. LOUIS – An impressive list of baseball royalty was at Busch Stadium Friday night for the number retirement ceremony for future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa.
Members of La Russa's past from his days in Chicago, Oakland and St. Louis sat behind him near home plate as his No. 10 was added to the illustrious list of Cardinals greats in a touching pregame ceremony.
Here's what some of the attendees had to say about their former manager, colleague and friend:
Former Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein:
"He was an intense, compassionate winner. Tony demanded that you were committed to winning. If a player didn't show up every day, they might have a problem, but if you were committed to winning every single day, Tony was the guy for you.
"The biggest thing is the intensity, but also as everyone knows, Tony really thinks up the game and what he does for a player, he tries to put them in the best situation to be successful. Where he differentiates from other managers, he managed to win the game. He didn't manage to worry about what questions he might be asked after the game."
Former Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds:
"He did so many things. I wasn't around long enough to know all the ins and outs of what he did, but I know he was one of the first to use the bullpen how he did and bat the pitcher eighth, but everything he did, he did to try and win the game. He never stopped trying to win each night and that's not something you see in this game.
"He never stopped working. He never stopped thinking about the game. He never stopped talking about the game and sometimes it's tiring to listen to, but he was a man of his word and he had your back as a player. It was fun to play for him."
Former Cardinals manager Joe Torre:
"His teams were always disciplined. As a manager you always appreciate the discipline that other teams show, the fact that they don't give you anything. In order to beat them you have to beat them. They aren't going to lose themselves. Tony was very meticulous in what he did, very methodical in how he did it, but the players responded.
"It's great to look back at the legacy that he's left. This is not an easy town to do something special because they are used to it, but what he did last year will be remembered for a long time.
"I think he understood how special this place was. When you have players from other teams coming into this city, they looked forward to it because it's an event. Going to a ballgame is an event in this city. Following guys like Whitey Herzog and Red Schoendienst, he certainly tended to his knitting and won the fans over. I'm not sure how popular he was early on, but I know he won them over."
Former Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris:
"The great thing about Tony is that he personalized things for each player and that's being a great manager, to figure out what each guy needs and how to motivate. I liked his style from the beginning. Maybe I didn't know any better, but he was great for me.
"It was his way or the highway, but the beauty of Tony was that he made you feel like you were a part of everything. Whether it was an opinion you gave or he would get the veterans together to discuss flights and jackets or coats and tie. He made you feel like you were a part of it. That was important to the players."
Former Cardinals outfielder Brian Jordan:
"I've always respected Tony. We had some ins and outs. It was rough on everybody early in 1996 when Tony first came over. The whole Ozzie Smith-Royce Clayton situation but like I told Tony, it started out rough but it ended up great by the end of the season.
"Tony is one of those unique managers. It's his style of play that I learned to respect. I was teasing him earlier and I said when I played somebody else and I came to play St. Louis, you kept me on my toes because I knew you were up to something, which was great and made him so unique. He was one of the greatest managers of all-time. It's an honor to be here for him and I appreciated him calling me to come out and support him."
Hall of Famer pitcher Dennis Eckersley:
"It happened so quickly, all of this. They won the World Series, and then his retirement. I'm kind of still in shock about his whole career. I didn't expect it happen like this, but with that being said, this is a great moment for Tony. To see him in a different way, he's really taking it in. Tony made a name for himself. He deserves this honor. He's going to go to the Hall of Fame so I'm going to be doing this again sometime.
"There was a home run that I gave up in the middle of the season somewhere and it was on the road, and we went to Baltimore and got there at three, four o'clock in the morning and I got my key and went back to my room and opened up my key and there was a note in there because he knew how crushed I was and on that note it said Eck, you're the best, and to me, I've never forgotten that and never will."
