I doubt if anybody can find fault with the managing job Tony La Russa is doing with the St. Louis Cardinals. His team is in first place, but he does have one problem -- he has a dead-pan appearance.
Throughout the baseball season, Tony is seen on television with this intense concentration, and never smiles.
However, once an animal is put in front of him, especially a cat or a dog, he is an entirely different person.
Tony, 61, has developed LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation in Northern California. Elena Bicker, general manager of ARF, said, "Once Tony comes in contact with an animal he's just a big marshmallow."
LaRussa has a strong love for pets and a passion for his foundation, which he began 15 years ago in a tiny office.
The foundation has grown into a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Walnut Creek, Calif. It rescued nearly 2,000 cats and dogs from public shelters each year, placing all of them in homes. ARF reaches 20,000 people annually through its visiting animal program and 5,000 through its on-site programs.
The foundation defines itself as a no-kill shelter dedicated to bringing people and animals together. It claims 80 percent of all donations go directly to the programs. Its board of directors include such celebrities as David Pratt, owner of the Cardinals; Bill Goldberg, champion pro wrestler; Dan O'Brien, Olympic decathlete; and former Cardinal home run slugger Mark McGwire.
Tony and Elaine host a "Stars to the Rescue" event each year that is packed with athletes, entertainers and other powerful friends. It usually raises more than $200,000.
LaRussa's inspiration for ARF dashed across the field at the Oakland Coliseum in a game between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics in 1990.
A stray cat that had survived on spilled popcorn ran onto the turf and became disoriented. It made its way from the Yankee dugout to the A's dugout but was too exhausted to scale the 3-foot wall into the stands. LaRussa, then skipper of the Athletics, stepped out of the dugout and directed the cat down the dugout stairs into a bathroom.
After the game, Tony's wife, Elaine, called and told Tony to bring the cat home. The cat was named Evie, after the wife of the team's owner, Walter Haas. The LaRussas found her a home, but they were not through.
The LaRussa home in Danville, Calif., has become a mini-ARF with 10 cats, three dogs and a foster dog. Tony's favorite animal is Rez, a terrier Lab that wandered into the A's spring training facility in Phoenix when he was with Oakland.
Scott Rolen, Cards third baseman, in an interview with Tom D'Angelo, a writer for the Palm Beach, Fla. newspaper, said, "Tony likes animals more than he likes people."
LaRussa does not disagree.
"When I leave every spring my wife and daughters have the animals," he said in the Palm Beach paper. "I get these players. That's a bad deal."
However, once an animal is put in front of him, especially a cat or a dog, he is an entirely different person.
Tony, 61, has developed LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation in Northern California. Elena Bicker, general manager of ARF, said, "Once Tony comes in contact with an animal he's just a big marshmallow."
LaRussa has a strong love for pets and a passion for his foundation, which he began 15 years ago in a tiny office.
The foundation has grown into a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Walnut Creek, Calif. It rescued nearly 2,000 cats and dogs from public shelters each year, placing all of them in homes. ARF reaches 20,000 people annually through its visiting animal program and 5,000 through its on-site programs.
The foundation defines itself as a no-kill shelter dedicated to bringing people and animals together. It claims 80 percent of all donations go directly to the programs. Its board of directors include such celebrities as David Pratt, owner of the Cardinals; Bill Goldberg, champion pro wrestler; Dan O'Brien, Olympic decathlete; and former Cardinal home run slugger Mark McGwire.
Tony and Elaine host a "Stars to the Rescue" event each year that is packed with athletes, entertainers and other powerful friends. It usually raises more than $200,000.
LaRussa's inspiration for ARF dashed across the field at the Oakland Coliseum in a game between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics in 1990.
A stray cat that had survived on spilled popcorn ran onto the turf and became disoriented. It made its way from the Yankee dugout to the A's dugout but was too exhausted to scale the 3-foot wall into the stands. LaRussa, then skipper of the Athletics, stepped out of the dugout and directed the cat down the dugout stairs into a bathroom.
After the game, Tony's wife, Elaine, called and told Tony to bring the cat home. The cat was named Evie, after the wife of the team's owner, Walter Haas. The LaRussas found her a home, but they were not through.
The LaRussa home in Danville, Calif., has become a mini-ARF with 10 cats, three dogs and a foster dog. Tony's favorite animal is Rez, a terrier Lab that wandered into the A's spring training facility in Phoenix when he was with Oakland.
Scott Rolen, Cards third baseman, in an interview with Tom D'Angelo, a writer for the Palm Beach, Fla. newspaper, said, "Tony likes animals more than he likes people."
LaRussa does not disagree.
"When I leave every spring my wife and daughters have the animals," he said in the Palm Beach paper. "I get these players. That's a bad deal."
The Citizens' Say
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