Tony La Russa and David Perkins

1. Tony La Russa
Chief Baseball Officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks

2. Vitals
 Birthdate – October 4, 1944
 Birthplace – Tampa, Florida
 4 Time Manager of the Year
 6 Time Pennant Winner (3 in each league)
 3 World Series Titles
 One of the most accomplished managers in the
history of the major leagues
 Third-winningest manager of all time

3. La Russa Timeline
 1962. Signs pro contract with Kansas City Athletics
straight out of High School.
 1963. Major league debut with Kansas City Athletics.
 1969. Earns degree in industrial management from
University of South Florida
 1973. On Opening Day with Cubs, inserted as a pinch
runner at first base for Ron Santo in bottom of ninth, and
scores the winning run. It's his only appearance with
Cubs and his last as MLB player.
 1978. White Sox name him manager of Double-A
Knoxville Sox.
 1978. Earns law degree from Florida State University.

4. Timeline Continued
 1979. Replaces Don Kessinger as White Sox
manager.
 1983. First postseason appearance in 24 years as Sox
won AL West with 99 wins.
 Named AL Manager of the Year.
 1986. Oakland A's hire him to take over as manager.
 1988. A's win AL pennant, lose to Dodgers in World
Series.
 Named AL Manager of the Year.
 1989. A's beat Giants to win World Series.
 1990. A's lose to Reds in World Series.

5. Timeline Continued
 1992. Named AL Manager of the Year.
 1996. Hired to replace Joe Torre in St. Louis;
Cardinals win Central Division.
 2002. Named NL Manager of the Year.
 2004. Cardinals lose to Red Sox in World Series
 2006. Cardinals beat Tigers in World Series.
 2011. Cardinals beat Texas in World Series.
 2011. Retires as the Manager of the St. Louis
Cardinals.
 2014. Hired by Diamondbacks as Chief Officer
of Baseball.

6. Why This Career?
 Been affiliated with baseball his entire life.
 Loves the game and the competition.
 After serving as a special assistant to Commissioner
Bud Selig, he wanted to get back in the in
competitive action.

7. Biggest Challenge
 Evaluating the new team.
 Identifying the problems or issues.
 Making a change that betters the
team.
 Having the guts to make the change
and sticking to it.

8. Everyday Work
 He will oversee the entire baseball operations
department, with current GM Kevin Towers and
manager Kirk Gibson reporting to him.
 “He has a free rein to do whatever he thinks he needs to
do to make the organization better.”
 Has the final say on all trades and transactions.
 Spending time traveling to each of the team's affiliates to
evaluate the talent.
 Could accompany Montgomery (Scouting Director) on
some trips to scout potential Draft picks.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/75790834/arizona-
diamondbacks-name-tony-la-russa-chief-baseball-officer

9. Hours and Travel
 La Russa is on the clock all day everyday.
 Dealing with everything including scouting, player
development, team staff and the Diamondbacks
playing status.
 He does travel a fair amount.
 He can travel with the major league team to road
games and even to minor league games for scouting
purposes.

10. Advice
 “If you go forward in this game, the key is, do you
love it and do you want to learn it?”
 “Embrace the metrics, but when the game starts
you've got to fill your staff with the authority and the
responsibility to make decisions based on what
they're observing.”

11. David Perkins
Chief Operating Officer
USA Baseball

12. Chief Operating Officer (C.O.O.)
 Perkins has worked to further develop the
organization's revenue opportunities through both
new on-field programs and marketing programs.
 Among his responsibilities now is to administer all
aspects of the organization’s internship program.
 Companies turn responsibility for all areas of
operations over to the COO including production,
marketing and sales, and research and development.
 The COO’s job can vary based on the company and
the qualifications on the COO.

13. Career Path
 1998 - Applied and offered an internship with USA
Baseball working on the organization's Junior Olympic
Baseball Championships.
 At the end of that summer, he assumed responsibility for
USA Baseball's merchandise and retail programs.
 One year later, and prior to the 2000 Olympic Games in
Sydney, Perkins moved into the role of associate director
of business development.
 2003 - was promoted to director of marketing and
licensing.
 In early 2008, Perkins was named the organization's
Chief Operating Officer.

14. Advice from Perkins
 Encourages students to begin “early”.
 Encourages students to take full advantage of every
opportunity they are given to work in sports.
 1. Be the first one in the office in the morning and the
last one to leave the office at the end of the day.
 2. Ask for more things to do, ask for different things
and proactively look for things to do even when no
one asks you to do it.
 3. Have fun

15. Interesting Fact
 When it comes to hiring the first three things USA
Baseball looks for are enthusiasm, experience and
confidence.
 If a candidate has those three qualities we can
usually find a good position for that person within
our organization.

16. Remond Safi

17. Sources
 http://m.mlb.com/news/article/75790834/arizona-
diamondbacks-name-tony-la-russa-chief-baseball-officer
 http://www.sportscareers.com/sports-career-
spotlight.asp?id=156
 https://hbr.org/2006/05/second-in-command-the-
misunderstood-role-of-the-chief-operating-officer
 http://m.mlb.com/news/article/75790834/arizona-
diamondbacks-name-tony-la-russa-chief-baseball-officer
 http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/
2014/07/27/tony-la-russas-latest-challenge-revamp-
struggling-arizona-diamondbacks/13233233/
 http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-
baseball/24565252/diamondbacks-name-tony-la-russa-new-
chief-baseball-officer