Managers La Russa, Torre, Cox Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox, who have eight World Series titles among them, were unanimously elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Monday.
Cox was particularly touched by the show of support from the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee. "They say when you're voted to the Hall of Fame your life changes," Cox said. "And it has. I've got goose bumps, and it's the greatest honor that we could ever have."
Torre, whose four championships include two over Cox's Braves, had nothing but praise for his fellow inductees: "Managing against them, you certainly learned things. I am honored to go into the Hall with these two guys."
La Russa, who won titles in both the American League (1989 with Oakland) and National League (2006, 2011 with St. Louis), returned the praise to Torre: "Joe taught a lot of us about how to win the right way and lose the right way."
The Veterans Committee ballot is different from the more well-known writers ballot. The Baseball Writers Association of America will choose its 2014 inductees by the end of the month, with a range of options including first-timers Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine.
Along with the eight World Series, La Russa, Torre and Cox combined for 17 league pennants and more than 7,500 wins over 91 total seasons on the bench.
[ESPN, N.Y. Times]