In a spring training camp with Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday and Sal Bando, another hitter who caught the eye of Joe DiMaggio was Tony La Russa.
In 1968, DiMaggio was in a green and gold Oakland Athletics uniform, giving instruction to players. La Russa was trying to make the team as a reserve infielder and return to the majors for the first time in five years.
DiMaggio became one of La Russa’s biggest boosters.
Bay Area bonanza
After the 1967 season, the Athletics moved from Kansas City to Oakland. Club owner Charlie Finley approached Joe DiMaggio and offered him a front-office position with the title of executive vice president. DiMaggio accepted, signing a two-year contract.
In explaining why he took the job, DiMaggio said to the Associated Press, “Probably the biggest thing was the shift of the club to Oakland. It’s only 25 minutes from home (in San Francisco).”
During the previous six years, DiMaggio had been a visiting batting instructor at Yankees spring training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but when club co-owner Dan Topping asked him to take a fulltime job, “I turned him down,” DiMaggio said to The Sporting News. “I decided to join Mr. Finley and the A’s because it was home.”
Frank Lane, former general manager of the Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics, said to the San Francisco Examiner, “The smartest move Finley made when he moved to Oakland was to hire DiMaggio. That gave the club instant prestige.”
As The Sporting News noted, Finley and DiMaggio agreed to “an extremely loose arrangement as far as office responsibilities are concerned.” His duties were to include advising on personnel decisions and player transactions.
DiMaggio emphasized he wouldn’t do community relations and promotional tasks. “I’m not going around talking to groups or making appearances at banquets,” he told The Sporting News. “As I understand the job, I’ll be busy all of the time with player personnel, working on possible trades and serving as an adviser.”
At the baseball winter meetings in Mexico City in December 1967, DiMaggio “was much in evidence (as) the spokesman for the club,” The Sporting News reported. When Athletics manager Bob Kennedy asked him to be an instructor at spring training, DiMaggio said yes.
Advanced placement
On Feb. 26, 1968, when the Athletics had their first spring workout at Bradenton, Fla., DiMaggio, 53, was in uniform. According to the Bradenton Herald, he “posed obligingly for photographers, chatted freely with reporters and smilingly handed out autographs.” He also gave batting tips to a 22-year-old catcher, Dave Duncan.
United Press International columnist Milton Richman was impressed by how DiMaggio fit in. “He hangs his street clothes in the same simple wooden lockers as the players do,” Richman observed. “His locker is between those of coaches Sherm Lollar and John McNamara.”
DiMaggio became engaged in the instructor’s role. He enjoyed working with the players and connected with them.
“This kid Rick Monday is shaping up as a hell of a fine ballplayer,” DiMaggio said to Richman. “He’s only 22 and I like the way he swings the bat. He bears down all the time … This boy knows he’s good, but he’ll listen when you tell him something.
“There’s another outfielder, Reggie Jackson, I’ve been working with. He’ll take a little time to learn, but he’s going to be a good one, too.”
DiMaggio worked with Jackson on hitting, fielding and base running. “He’s such a symbol of greatness to a ballplayer, something to strive for, someone to get approval from,” Jackson said to The Sporting News. “It would be embarrassing not to hustle in front of such a man.”
After seeing DiMaggio swing the bat, Jackson told columnist Joe Falls, “He’s the Rope Man. He hangs out those frozen ropes.”
Asked about his approach to teaching, DiMaggio said to Jack Hand of the Associated Press, “There is no set way of hitting. One fellow bats one way, another has a different style. Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby all had different styles, but they followed the same fundamentals. The main thing is being comfortable, holding the head rigid, taking a short stride, having the bat ready to swing.
“You can’t tell anybody how to hit. Nobody ever tried to teach me. If I tried to bat like Stan Musial, all curled up in that crouch, I’d be wound up in a knot. It’s the same way with my wide stance. A lot of fellows couldn’t do it my way. I didn’t start out that way either.
“If I see a fellow who has a decided weakness, I’ll talk to him. I wouldn’t try to change a player unless he has been around a while and had not shown any improvement.”
Strong man
Tony La Russa was 18 when he debuted in the majors with the 1963 Athletics. He spent the next four seasons in the minors. Injuries played a part in stalling his career. He dislocated his right shoulder twice, tore ligaments in his right knee, and injured his back and throwing arm.
When he got to spring training in 1968, La Russa, 23, told the Oakland Tribune, “I worked pretty hard during the winter to strengthen the spots where I had my injuries. I feel 100 percent now and I don’t feel I’m injury prone.”
Working with weights at a Tampa gym, La Russa bulked up and was bigger than his listed weight of 175 pounds. The Bradenton Herald described him as having “tremendously thick forearms and wrists, and Ted Kluszewski-sized biceps.”
“I’m staying right at 195 pounds now and never felt better,” La Russa said to reporter Vince Smith. “I figured I’d better start doing something about building myself up. If I was bigger and stronger, I wouldn’t be getting hurt all the time.”
Second base was La Russa’s best position, but the Athletics had John Donaldson and Dick Green there. Manager Bob Kennedy viewed La Russa as a backup to Sal Bando at third and possibly Bert Campaneris at shortstop, and planned to play him at those spots throughout spring training.
(“I’m the most uncomfortable at third,” La Russa said to the Oakland Tribune.)
Asked about La Russa, Kennedy said to the San Francisco Examiner, “We’re looking at the kid as a top prospect for infield utility duty … We certainly don’t want to give up on him. We feel there’s a good chance he’ll help us.”
DiMaggio took an interest in La Russa. After watching La Russa take swings in the batting cage at spring training, he offered advice. “He told me he noticed I had a little hitch in my swing and I was letting the ball get by me before I had my wrists cocked,” La Russa told the Bradenton Herald. “When he tells me something like that, naturally I’m going to listen.”
DiMaggio said to the Herald, “I think he really has a chance to make it. When you get the injuries this kid has had since he started, you never really get a chance to get going. He seems to be in real good shape out here now. He swings that bat and he swings it pretty good.”
According to the Oakland Tribune, La Russa went on to lead the Athletics in hitting (.364) in spring training games and earned a spot on the 1968 Opening Day roster as a backup infielder.
Highs and lows
Near the end of spring training, DiMaggio agreed to Kennedy’s request to be a coach all season. “He will be on the bench with me,” Kennedy said to The Sporting News. “This entails a fulltime duty with the club. I can think of no better man to teach young hitters and young outfielders than Joe DiMaggio.”
In explaining why he accepted the role, DiMaggio said to the Oakland Tribune, “These kids we have are the major reason I’ve decided to coach. They’re just great. I’ve become attached to them and the club. I think I can do a service.”
In introductions before the Athletics’ home opener on April 17, 1968, DiMaggio got the loudest ovation from the crowd of 50,164. Gov. Ronald Reagan threw the ceremonial first pitch and was booed, the Oakland Tribune reported.
In the game that followed, Dave McNally of the Orioles held the Athletics to two hits _ a Rick Monday home run and pinch-hit single by La Russa. Boxscore
Three weeks later, after just three at-bats, La Russa was placed on waivers and went unclaimed. The Athletics sent him to their Vancouver farm club and called up outfielder Joe Rudi.
DiMaggio had a successful season as a coach. As The Sporting News noted, “Being a coach in uniform this year has enabled DiMaggio to escape a desk job with vague responsibilities and ill-defined duties, and make a real contribution to the team. His mere presence has inspired the young A’s players, who hold him in high esteem but not the overwhelming awe they showed him when he first appeared in spring training.”
The 1968 Athletics finished 82-80, but Bob Kennedy was fired and replaced by Hank Bauer, who had been DiMaggio’s outfield teammate with the Yankees. DiMaggio said he didn’t want to coach again in 1969, the last year of his contract, but Bauer convinced him to change his mind.
La Russa began the 1969 season in the minors at Des Moines, hit .306 and got called up to the Athletics in June after Dick Green tore knee ligaments. La Russa got only eight at-bats with the 1969 Athletics and went hitless.