Manager's special: Torre, Cox, La Russa in Hall of Fame

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – They came in around the same time, managed for the better part of three decades and left nearly in unison. It was only fitting, then, that their accomplishments would be recognized together.

Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre, who rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the career list of managerial victories, were elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame on Monday by the expansion-era committee.

Pioneering players union head Marvin Miller and iconic New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner did not get the required 75 percent of the votes from the 16-member committee.

La Russa, Cox and Torre combined for 7,558 wins and eight World Series championships, each surpassing 2,000 wins, a magical figure of sorts because no manager with at least that many has been excluded from the Hall.

"I can't tell you how excited I am. And what makes it even better is to go in with these two guys,'' said Torre, whose teams won 2,326 games over 29 seasons. "We waged a lot of battles against each other and there's a really great feeling.''

The legendary managers began their careers on the bench within two years of each other, between 1977 and '79, and concluded their stay between 2010 and 2011.

Their Hall of Fame announcement was dotted with expressions of recognition for each other and the way they conducted themselves. All three managed in both leagues, although Cox spent 25 of his 29 seasons with the Atlanta Braves in the National League. La Russa split his 33 seasons nearly evenly, with 17 in the American League and 16 in the National. Torre managed 17 seasons in the NL and 12 with the Yankees in the AL.

"When you played against guys like that, it's just a great competition, because they really want to beat you, it's your team against their team,'' La Russa said. "But you learned about winning and losing the right way.''

While Torre collected the most championships with four, La Russa went out on top when he guided the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series title in 2011, then retired soon after. It was his second championship ring with St. Louis after winning one in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics. He joined Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson as the only managers to win World Series in both leagues.

La Russa's impact went beyond that. While with the A's from 1986-95, he pioneered the use of the specialized bullpen and one-inning closer, staples of the game today.

The subject of two books, including George Will's "Men at Work'' in 1991, La Russa was known for his fierce competitiveness and innovative bent. He employed such unusual moves as batting the pitcher in the eighth spot, using a left-handed third baseman for several games in 1984 and briefly trying a three-man rotation while with the A's.

"I've never invented anything, but always somebody taught me something,'' La Russa said, looking ahead to the day he will join the legends in Cooperstown, N.Y. "I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable being part of that club. I'm aware of who is sitting behind us.''

Cox piloted the Braves when they won 14 consecutive division titles from 1991-2005, although that dynasty claimed only one World Series, in 1995. He had two stints with Atlanta, first from 1978-81, before a four-year run with the Toronto Blue Jays that featured the franchise's first AL East title in 1985.

After that season, family reasons prompted Cox to return to Atlanta as general manager, and in 1990 he went back to the bench. The Braves' string of division crowns, behind strong rotations that featured the likes of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, began the next year.

Maddux and Glavine are on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, and both 300-game winners are strong candidates to get in. The results will be announced Jan. 8.

"They're the guys that got me this far, that's for sure,'' said Cox, who holds a dubious record with 158 career ejections. "It would be just unbelievably great (to go in together). I've got my fingers crossed for both of them.''

Torre, now MLB's executive vice president of baseball operations, had an 894-1,003 managerial record over 14 seasons with three teams when he joined the Yankees in 1996, the beginning of a golden era that included four World Series titles in his first five seasons and six AL pennants in eight years.

Torre finished his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning two NL West crowns before retiring after the 2010 season, but largely earned the Hall induction because of a 12-year run with the Yankees, who went 1,173-767 under his guidance.

"To win as many games as we did during my time there was just crazy,'' he said. "It was just really nuts.''

Miller led the MLB Players Association from 1966-82 and was the driving force behind it becoming the strongest sports union in the land. He negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in pro sports in 1968, and under his stewardship players saw a dramatic increase in their salaries while gaining such rights as arbitration and free agency.

But after coming up a vote short of the 12 required three years ago, Miller was among the candidates the Hall said received six votes or less this time.

"Words cannot adequately describe the level of disappointment and disbelief I felt when learning that once again the Hall of Fame has chosen to ignore Marvin Miller and his unparalleled contributions to the growth and prosperity of Major League Baseball,'' Tony Clark, the new executive director of the union, said in a statement.

"Despite the election results, Marvin's legacy remains intact, and will only grow stronger, while the credibility of the Hall of Fame continues to suffer."

Rod Carew, one of the six former players on the expansion-era committee – which also includes ex-managers, executives and historians – said Miller got due consideration.

"Marvin Miller did a great job for the players,'' Carew said. "Every person who voted considered the task very special. At this time we thought the figures we named were the ones worthy of going into the Hall of Fame, but who knows if in the future we'll have another chance to vote in Marvin Miller and some of the other players and executives.''