Ten days after his Oakland A’s swept the San Francisco Giants in the 1989 World Series, manager Tony La Russa found himself rubbing elbows with some very important people.
First, the A’s were received at the White House by President George H.W. Bush, lauded for their championship play and their organizational sensitivity in the wake of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Then La Russa and his wife managed to “wrangle” tickets to a state dinner honoring Philippine President Corazon Aquino.
“Just magical,” La Russa recalled Wednesday.
In January 2007, La Russa headed back to the White House, where President George W.