Former Oakland skipper admires Bob Melvin and new-look A’s.
CHICAGO — Bob Melvin spoke highly of Tony La Russa after surpassing him as the A’s winningest manager in the Oakland era in June.
Before their teams met on Monday, La Russa, the Hall of Fame manager back at the helm of the White Sox, voiced a mutual admiration.
“I would say there is no better manager in Major League Baseball now than Bob,” La Russa said. “And he proves it year in and year out. He’s got a real good feel for the game, he relates excellently with the players. They play for him. Not only do they like him, but they respect him.”
Melvin recorded his 799th win as A’s manager June 1 in Seattle to top the total La Russa logged leading Oakland from 1986-1995, a run that included three World Series appearances and one championship.
Five days later, on June 6, La Russa recorded his 2,764th total win as a manager, second-most in MLB history after Connie Mack. La Russa, 76, is managing his 36th season after returning from a decade of retirement to lead the White Sox, the team he first managed in 1979.
Melvin and La Russa have managed against each other before, when Melvin was in Seattle and Arizona and La Russa in St. Louis. Monday marked their first matchup during Melvin’s tenure in Oakland, but Melvin said he knows La Russa “fairly well” through their Bay Area ties.
“I’ve gotten to see him quite a bit and always pick his brain,” Melvin said. “Even when he was working for MLB or working for another team, we always find time to catch up and he always finds time for me to ask questions to him.”
Melvin said he has tried to draw from his observations of La Russa as a manager, citing “how he kind of motivates his guys and relates to all his guys, certainly what he’s done to bullpens from his time with the A’s starting with (Dennis) Eckersley and how he manages it.
“How he manages teams based on what he has as opposed to what he’s trying to do. He’ll run if he’s got guys that are able to do that. If not, he’ll play to the strengths of their teams. I think probably more so (I) got that from him than anybody else.”
La Russa said he “watched (Melvin) a lot” while away from managing and “admired his work” early in Oakland.
“I thought he was really good before he got there and the work he’s done with the A’s year in and year out is outstanding,” La Russa said.
Briefly: Josh Harrison returned to the A’s lineup at second base after missing three games with a quad strain … Khris Davis, on a minor-league deal with the A’s, hit his first home run with Triple-A Las Vegas at Tacoma on Monday … Chad Pinder, on a rehab assignment with Las Vegas, also homered in Monday’s game.