One Last Strike

By: Tony La Russa

Narrated by: Tony La Russa, Scott Sowers

One Last Strike by legendary baseball manager Tony La Russa is a thrilling sports comeback story. La Russa, the winner of four Manager of the Year awards—who led his teams to six Pennant wins and three World Series crowns—chronicles one of the most exciting end-of-season runs in baseball history, revealing with fascinating behind-the-scenes details how, under his expert management, the St. Louis Cardinals emerged victorious in the 2011 World Series despite countless injuries, mishaps, and roadblocks along the way. Talking candidly about the remarkable season—and his All-Star players like Albert Pujols and David Freese—the recently retired La Russa celebrates his fifty years in baseball, his team’s amazing recovery from 10 ½ games back, and one final, unforgettable championship in a book that no true baseball fan will want to miss.

Awesome internal perspective for any baseball fan. Great coaching lessons!

Fantastic inside story that any Cardinal or baseball fan will love, especially those who lived through the 2011 season. The coaching pointers buried within are truly golden and I implement them with my teams. LaRussa does a great job reading his work. The other guy almost ruins it with how badly he butchers the players names. Very unprofessional. How do you not take 5 minutes to ensure you are pronouncing someone’s name right? I found myself screaming the correct pronunciation at audible repeated throughout the book.

Very good.

If you are a baseball fan it is a must listen. A from the dugout perspective of one of the most resilient teams in baseball history and their improbable run to win the 2011 World Series. Only downfall is the narrator (Scott Sowers) needed to do a little more research before recording. He mispronounced several players names throughout. Not a big deal, but a little irritating.

Great book - love the hidden tips/tricks

Wish it would have covered a little more of La Russa's overall story, but appreciate what it did share! Loved the little insights in to decisions and actions throughout this season...and that's coming from a Cubs fan!

For The Ages

As a lifelong Cardinal fan Last Strike was a chance of reliving an ultimate classic of a Fall Classic run for the World Series. This time I heard the progress of a truly great team and a great and amazing story from an inside point of view. This book is rich in Baseball history and tactics. Not just a tribute to the 2011 Cardinals, but a deep study on the entire career of a great manager, Tony LaRussa, from a personal and professional perspective. What a true joy it has been to relive this magic moment in baseball history.

Outstanding and In-depth

If you could sum up One Last Strike in three words, what would they be?

Insightful, Entertaining, Historic

What other book might you compare One Last Strike to and why?

3 Night in August..

Which character – as performed by Tony La Russa and Scott Sowers – was your favorite?

Both were excellent Sowers really got into the role..LaRussa spoke from the heart and experience.

good

this book was really good and well written but the narrator mispronounces many major league baseball players names and it gets kind of annoying

Good stuff!

Would you consider the audio edition of One Last Strike to be better than the print version?

No

What did you like best about this story?

Insights into baseball and building a winning team.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

One Last Strike

Any additional comments?

While a very good baseball book, it also offers valuable insights into leadership and an appreciation of how every individual can play an important role in the sucess of any team, organization or business. The fact that it involved colorful characters from Yadi, Albert, Carp and Freeze; plus that it told the story of the greatest baseball season in the history of baseball (well, at least from a Cardinal perspective), made it extremely enjoyable.

Manager of Managers

Would you consider the audio edition of One Last Strike to be better than the print version?

Yes the audible is better but I am sure the print version is great as well. My only wish is that Tony LaRussa would have read the entire book. It is still a great book for any baseball person.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tony LaRussa.

Have you listened to any of Tony La Russa and Scott Sowers ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The question dose not relate. Tony is the best manager I have ever seen in the game of baseball. I have seen a lot of good managers in my 50 years or so of following the game.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Cardinals coming all the way back to win a World Championshiip. The way they were able to come out of no where to win it all.

Any additional comments?

This book gives a lot of background to the inside of the game of baseball which I enjoyed. It also showed me the man that Tony is which is what I think makes him the best manager of all time in the game of baseball For the record Cardinal fans I have been a life long Reds fan . You keep your friends close You keep your enemies closer Thats why I have so much respect for the skipper.

Best of the best

This is the best book I have had the pleasure to have listened to! A truly interesting adventure into the mind and wistom of one of the best baseball managers. I am a St. Louis native which made this a story I was drawn to since Tony was The Cardinals manager for 14 years and it give a great understanding about how he thought and make difficult decisions.
The
One of the best parts was his narration of his book with comments about teams and players he managed.

I highly recommend this book to anyone due to the interesting content. I have listened and enjoyed it twice.

A True Love Story

For a 4th generation Cardinals fan, this book was beyond sweet! Thank you, Tony, for allowing us insight into one of the most brilliant baseball minds ever!