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One Last Strike: Former Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa

Tony La Russa won two World Series championships as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and another with the Oakland Athletics.  He won four Manager of the Year Awards and has the third highest win total in Major League Baseball history.  Host Don Marsh talks with La Russa about his career, the current season, and his new memoir, “One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season.”

In the first half of the show we had a conversation about the role that exposure to stress plays in the behavior of African American youth.  Don talks with Lorena Estrada-Martinez, Assistant Professor of Social Work at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and Cleopatra Howard Caldwell, Director of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Show Highlights

In a shortened “highlights” version of our interview with Tony La Russa, Don Marsh asked La Russa about his role in the Cardinals spectacular comeback last season.

Don also asked Tony La Russa about why people from others cities and fans of other teams might find the book interesting.  There are “a lot of leadership points that can apply any place including places beyond sports,” said La Russa.  “There’s a lot of relating to historical figures in and out of sports and I think the lesson of chemistry and team, the toughness of our team to never give up, I think all of that applies beyond Cardinals fans.”

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In the first half of the program, Don talked with Lorena Estrada-Martinez and Cleopatra Howard Caldwell about the role that exposure to stress plays in the behavior of African American youth.

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  • NPR's All Things Considered also interviewed La Russa for their broadcast. Seethat interview here.
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Alex is the executive producer of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.
Mary Edwards is a producer for St. Louis Public Radio's broadcast program, "St. Louis Symphony."
Don Marsh served as host of St. Louis Public Radio’s “St. Louis on the Air" from 2005 to 2019, bringing discussions of significant topics to listeners' ears at noon Monday through Friday. Don has been an active journalist for 58 years in print, radio and television. He has won 12 Regional Emmy Awards for writing, reporting, and producing. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was inducted into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame in 2013, and named “Media Person of the Year” by the St. Louis Press Club in 2015. He has published three books: his most recent, “Coming of Age, Liver Spots and All: A Humorous Look at the Wonders of Getting Old,” “Flash Frames: Journey of a Journeyman Journalist” and “How to be Rude (Politely).” He holds an honorary Doctor of Arts and Letters degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.