Former A's manager La Russa set for Petaluma book signing

<p>Tony La Russa will mark his 68th birthday in Petaluma on Thursday.</p><p>You can see the baseball great at Copperfield's Books, but if you want to hear him speak you need to get hopping and buy a copy of his new book from the store.</p><p>La Russa will talk about his book -- "One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season" -- at 7 p.m.</p><p>His audience will be the first 200 people to purchase the HarperCollins book from the Petaluma Copperfield's and receive a signing pass. After his talk, La Russa will be available to everybody else who'd like to have him autograph a book and maybe wish him happy birthday.</p><p>La Russa retired from baseball a year ago, just three days after his St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. Through his 30 years as a manager his teams won 2,728 games, the third most in the history of Major League Baseball.</p><p>With him at the helm of the Oakland A's between 1986 and 1995, the team entered its Fourth Dynasty and won three straight pennants and the earthquake-fractured 1989 World Series against the Giants.</p><p>Copperfield's is eager to see how many fans turn out for his birthday appearance. More than 600 people turned out when he launched the book Sept. 24 at a bookstore in St. Louis.</p><p>The city's mayor declared it “Tony La Russa Day.” For the Petaluma event, just add the word “Birthday.”</p>