campaign. LaRussa, at 34, was the youngest manager in the major leagues. He credits Paul Richards with first inspiring him to believe he could succeed as a major league manager. La Russa was named American League Manager of the Year in 1983, when his club won the AL West but fell to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. The White Sox fired La Russa after the club got off to a 26–38 start in 1986. In 1986, General Manager Roland Hemond, who had hired La Russa as White Sox Manager, was replaced by the White Sox' broadcaster Ken Harrelson as general manager. Harrelson then fired both La Russa and coach Dave Duncan during the season. Ironically, Harrelson and La Russa were teammates at Binghamton in 1962. In later years, White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf expressed regret for allowing La Russa to be fired. He finished his White Sox career with a 522–510 regular season record and a 1–3 postseason record. Decades later, Hemond would say of La Russa: “Tony La Russa is one of the most brilliant managers that I ever encountered in my baseball career. He saw things other people didn’t see. There were some managers who thought he was out of line with what he was trying to do, but later on they had to respect him because it was working. There’s no question he changed the way the game is played.” La Russa is also commonly credited for the advent of the modern specialized bullpen. Oakland Athletics (1986–1995) La Russa had a break of less than three weeks before his old club, the Athletics, called him to take over as manager. LaRussa and Duncan both joined the A's, inheriting a team that was 31–52 and in 7th place. They went 45–34 the rest of the season to finish in 3rd place in 1986. La Russa managed the Oakland A's to three consecutive American League Pennants and World Series appearances from 1988 to 1990. The A's swept the earthquake-delayed Bay Area 1989 World Series from the rival San Francisco Giants. The previous season, the A's had lost the 1988 World Series to manager Tommy Lasorda and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In their third consecutive appearance, the favored A's faced manager Lou Piniella, LaRussa's childhood teammate and friend, and his Cincinnati Reds in the 1990 World Series. La Russa's Athletics were swept by the Cincinnati Reds.