Tony La Russa Retires: Will Cardinals Manager's Decision Affect Albert Pujols?

Tony La Russa, who has managed the St. Louis Cardinals since 1996 and led the franchise to two World Series titles, has decided to retire, according to B.J. Rains. While it's a surprising decision following St. Louis' Fall Classic triumph, it shouldn't have a major effect on the team.

Even though Albert Pujols has forged a close bond with the veteran manager, the move doesn't make it more likely he'll leave town. If anything, La Russa probably consulted with Pujols before making a final decision to ensure the superstar first baseman would still give the Cardinals every opportunity to bring him back.

La Russa was criticized throughout the playoffs for his perceived over-managing, mostly due to his numerous pitching changes. However, the 67-year-old skipper has always used a hands-on approach, for better or worse. He wasn't about to change his style because of media pressure.

He exits the game on top, which is the dream of every manager, but most can't make the difficult decision to walk away coming off such a high point in their career. La Russa has always been different and illustrated that once again by moving on with his life.

La Russa ranks third on the all-time wins list among managers, behind just Connie Mack and John McGraw. He won four Manager of the Year Awards, the most recent of which came in 2002, and won 54 percent of his more than 5,000 regular season games.

His lasting impact will be Pujols, though.

He held firm in the belief that Pujols was the best hitter he ever managed, and the two had a friendship rarely seen in today's me-first generation of players. It won't be easy for Pujols to generate that same type of admiration for his next boss, but remaining in St. Louis is still the most likely scenario.

Prince Albert should be upgraded to King Albert if he re-signs with the Cardinals during the offseason. While there would be no shortage of teams attempting to secure his services on the open market, there's no way another town would embrace him like St. Louis.

The pressure would be unimaginable after signing a mammoth contract, and his new fans would expect him to generate runs on a daily basis. If he remains with the Cardinals, everybody will be so happy he chose to say, the stats will be secondary for awhile.

La Russa might be riding off into the sunset, but don't expect Pujols to follow him.