La Russa says ARF won’t return valuables
An attorney for Hall of Fame baseball manager Tony La Russa said Friday that an animal welfare organization La Russa founded but left has refused to return his prized memorabilia — awards, trophies, rings and other Major League Baseball valuables — that have been on display at the Walnut Creek facility.
La Russa, who managed the Oakland Athletics to the 1989 World Series title and also led the St. Louis Cardinals to championships in 2006 and 2011, launched the nonprofit Animal Rescue Foundation in 1991 after a stray cat wandered onto the field at the Oakland Coliseum during a baseball game. In October, he retired from managing the Chicago White Sox due to health issues.
According to a statement released by La Russa’s attorney on Friday, the deadline for the foundation to allow La Russa’s family to retrieve their personal belongings was Wednesday but the foundation has refused to comply.
“There is no cause for ARF to hold hostage our family’s valuable personal belongings,” La Russa said. “Our family has taken the high road during this very difficult time, but this is baffling and extremely upsetting. My awards, trophies, rings and Hall of Fame induction mementos are at ARF. The guitar that Bruce Springsteen gifted to me as part of the 2006 World Series Championship is there.”
Shauna N. Correia, the attorney working for the La Russa family, said the family had requested a mutually convenient time for a family member to retrieve personal memorabilia.
In response to the La Russa family’s request, ARF board President Greg McCoy banned La Russa and his family from going to ARF to retrieve his belongings, Correia said.
According to Correia, McCoy told the family, “for reasons that should be obvious, the La Russa family will not be allowed on ARF property to collect the family’s mementos.”
In a statement, representatives of ARF said they are working to get La Russa’s property back to him and that they have invited his sons-in-law to the facility to collect it.
“ARF leaders have been in direct contact with Tony throughout the week regarding the return of his memorabilia items. Tony is fully aware that the Foundation is working to get his personal property back to him and that his sons-in-law have been invited to retrieve it. Tony has communicated with ARF on several occasions this week in what have been very pleasant exchanges about how to arrange the pick-up of his personal property items in an orderly fashion, including details about property that he obtained specifically for ARF and would like to have remain in ARF’s possession.”
La Russa’s attorney’s statement said that the family still hopes ARF will comply with the request so that they do not have to sue the organization, which they said would take resources away from the care of the animals.
La Russa officially severed ties with the foundation on March 3, demanding his name be scrubbed from the foundation’s website after clashes with leadership. Disagreements between the La Russa family and management escalated in recent months after what the family called the “mishandled adoption” of a dog named Lovebug.
Problems between the family and ARF have been brewing during the past few years. In 2021, the La Russa family resigned from the ARF board, but agreed to remain “loosely” affiliated with the organization to aid in its fundraising efforts.
“The outpouring of support for our family at this difficult time has meant so much to us,” said La Russa’s wife, Elaine. “And I can’t understand why ARF is making one of the most heartbreaking times of our lives even more painful by withholding some of our most sentimental belongings.”