LAS VEGAS -- Soon after managing the last game of his Hall of Fame career, Tony La Russa was invited by Tom Coughlin, the New York Giants' coach, to a function for Wounded Warriors, the charity that looks out for injured military veterans.
It was an experience that would redefine the mission of La Russa's already long-established Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF).
La Russa met a veteran and the non-service dog upon which he relied, depended and doted. La Russa's impression: "If the veteran was getting thrown by rough waters and about to go under, the dog was the sturdy tree branch he grabbed for survival.