La Russa decides to step down as chief analyst for the Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa is leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

La Russa served as chief baseball officer from 2015 to 2016 and became chief baseball analyst when the new regime of general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo arrived last spring.

La Russa said in a statement that the job was “more demanding than I realized.” He said with the current leadership in place, the Diamondbacks can expect winning baseball for years to come.

Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick said La Russa played a significant role in putting the franchise on the path to success.

Hazen said La Russa was of great value to him personally and he’s “very appreciative for all he has done here and the manner in which he handled the

transition.”

ANNIVERSARIES: Tuesday was the 13th anniversary of Dave Roberts’ memorable stolen base for Boston in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox were three outs from elimination when Roberts ran for Kevin Millar, swiped second and scored on Bill Mueller’s single.

Boston went on to rally past New York and sweep St. Louis for its first World Series championship since 1918.

Roberts said he never mentions the steal to his players, but it comes up occasionally.

“Yu Darvish about two weeks ago I guess was surfing the Internet, and there was an ‘aha’ moment,” Roberts said Tuesday. “He ran across the stolen base and kind of put 2 and 2 together and didn’t realize that was his manager. So he proceeded to kind of awkwardly approach me about it and talked about my goatee and how I could steal a base.”

Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of Reggie Jackson’s three-homer game at old Yankee Stadium in the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The club told reliever Glen Perkins it will decline its $6.5 million option on his contract for 2018 and pay him a $700,000 buyout. The decision moves Perkins closer to retirement.