October 23, 1995: The LaRussa Era Begins In St. Louis

On October 23, 1995, it was announced that Tony LaRussa would become the 48th manager in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The former skipper of the Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's came to St. Louis with high expectations as he took the number 10 to signify his desire to bring the Cardinals their 10th Championship title in franchise history. He also expressed his hope to see the club surpass the 3 million in attendance number by fielding a good product that the fans in St. Louis would be proud of. The team drew 3 million+ during 13 of 16 years with  LaRussa at the helm. He was the guiding force to 8 Division Titles, 3 National League Pennants, and 2 World Series Championships. Over 16 years the skipper became the winningest manager in franchise history with 1,408 victories while wearing the birds on the bat across his chest. After the 2011 Championship, LaRussa went out on top. He had reached expectations then exceeded them after his long tenure with the Birds. He will forever be remembered for being the captain of the ship that could boast the most win during the 2000s with 913 in the decade, and the most postseason wins of any ball club in the major leagues from 1996 to 2011 with 33. He not only retired as the winningest manager of the Cardinals, his 2,728 managerial wins is good for third on the all time list, only John McGraw's 2,763 and Connie Mack's 3,731 stand before him. Following his retirement the Cardinals retired his #10 as he is among the greatest to ever wear a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.

Check out the all time list of Cardinals managers: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/managers.jsp