ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 31, 1996 TAG: 9610310038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tony La Russa, who brought his intense style to a new league and led the St. Louis Cardinals to the National League Central championship, won The Associated Press manager of the year award Wednesday.
La Russa earned the honor for the third time. He also won in 1983 with the Chicago White Sox and in 1992 with Oakland.
La Russa received 49 votes in balloting by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Bruce Bochy of NL West champion San Diego was second with 30 votes and Johnny Oates of American League West champion Texas was third with 27.
Joe Torre of the World Series champion New York Yankees was fourth with 19. Voting was completed before the start of the playoffs.
La Russa, who spent 17 years managing in the AL, left the Athletics last October to join the Cardinals. Several of his players, such as Dennis Eckersley and Todd Stottlemyre, also joined him in St. Louis and helped the Cardinals reach the playoffs for the first time since 1987.
La Russa's serious, tense demeanor was a big change for many Cardinals players and fans, who had become accustomed to easy-going managers such as Whitey Herzog and Torre.
At the start of the season, he ruffled some people in the St. Louis family by benching Ozzie Smith and starting Royce Clayton. Eventually, that controversy went away and the Cardinals, coming off the second-worst record in the NL, began to win.
``I take the responsibility of managing serious,'' La Russa said during the NL championship series. ``The biggest responsibility is on the players. But being a manager or coach, you're supposed to contribute a piece.
``I hate when players feel they have to overcome a bad manager. That's embarrassing. That's why I have one of my strategies - get so far ahead I can't screw up.''
The Cardinals passed the .500 mark for good June 29, and clinched the Central title on Sept.24. It was the sixth division championship for La Russa, who won the World Series with the A's in 1989.
La Russa's work habits are well known throughout the majors. He usually gets to the ballpark six hours before games, and always is among the early arrivals in spring training.
Bochy, in his second season as a big league manager, led the Padres to their first playoff spot since 1984. His team surged in September to overtake Los Angeles for the NL West title.
Oates led Texas to its first postseason berth. Torre, fired as the Cardinals manager last year, succeeded in his first season with the Yankees.
Lou Piniella won the AP award last season with Seattle.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of La Russa color KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB