PHOENIX -- Tony La Russa has never missed the managing part of baseball since retiring in 2011. Mets Kevin Plawecki Jersey . He did miss the competition and, most particularly, the winning. Thats what drew him back to the big leagues. Bolstering their front office, the Arizona Diamondbacks hired La Russa as their chief baseball officer on Saturday, hoping the Hall of Fame manager can help turn around the team after one of the worst starts in franchise history. "Its the first day I woke up and I felt a difference," La Russa said. "Because for the first time since then youre back with an organization and at the end of the day youre going to be judged by how well your contribution is to the organizations competition. Thats how I grew up." La Russa last worked as a manager in 2011, walking away after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to their second World Series title with him at the helm. He spent time working for Major League Baseball as a special assistant to Commissioner Bud Selig and was itching to get back into baseball on a day-to-day basis, appearing at Diamondbacks games a few times the past few weeks. La Russa will report to Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall and oversee the entire baseball operations department. He will work with general manager Kevin Towers and manager Kirk Gibson in shaping the future of the Diamondbacks, who were 16-28 heading into Saturday nights game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "It is going to take time, but I think having him here and helping us lead this department, it looks good for us," Hall said. "Any decisions that are going to be made personnel wise, hes going to have final say." La Russa won three World Series titles and six league championships and was a four-time manager of the year in 33 seasons before retiring in 2011. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July and is third with 2,728 wins as a manager and second with 70 post-season wins. La Russa played parts of six seasons in the majors before starting a managerial career that began in 1979 with the Chicago White Sox and took him to Oakland and St. Louis, where he won World Series rings in 2006 and 2011. He also won a title with the As in 1989, joining Sparky Anderson as the only two managers to win World Series in both leagues. "I understand the levels of decision making," La Russa said. "And all Im saying here is that you include everybody in the process. But I think the advantage that we hope to have is that everybody on the competitive side is working from the same thought philosophy." Mets Noah Syndergaard Jersey . The 25-year-old Brazilian player has only made four Premier League appearances for United this season and underwent a medical test in Italy on Friday. Mets Jerseys China . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. http://www.cheapmetsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=mets-steven-matz-jersey . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course.Estonian pro Madis Muur has done it again, and is narrowly ahead of would-be two-time EPT champion Mike McDonald for the overnight chip lead - going in to the final of the $10k PCA 2014 Main Event with 6,205,000. All eight players in tomorrows final are guaranteed at least $173,220, but a life-changing prize $1,820,420 first prize awaits the winner, along with the title of PCA 2014 champion, a trophy and stunning "Steel and Black" design watch worth €5,550 from SLYDE, the Official Watch Sponsor of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure 2014. Final TableMadis Muur, Estonia, PokerStars qualifier, 6,205,000Mike McDonald, Canada, PokerStars qualifier, 5,605,000Pascal LeFrancois, Canada, PokerStars player, 5,595,000Dominik Panka, Poland, PokerStars qualifier, 3,695,000Fabian Ortiz, Argentina, 3,040,000Isaac Baron, USA, 2,995,000Daniel Gamez, Guatemala, PokerStars player, 1,885,000Shayam Srinivasan, Canada, PokerStars qualifier, 1,505,000 It was a super-quick Day 5 in the Atlantis Ballroom with 20 players whittled down to eight in record time. UKIPT Dublin champion Max Silver, bubbled the final table and finished ninth for $135,400. As well as Muur and McDonald, tomorrows final will include WSOP bracelet winner Pascal LeFrancois, online pros Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron and Shyam "gs zee" Srinivasan, plus LAPT Vina del Mar champion Fabian Ortiz. There were 1,031 players at this years PCA, creating a prize pool of $10,000,700. Among the 143 players who have already cashed are Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Selbst, Angel Guillen, Liv Boeree, Marcel Luske, George Danzer, Jason Mercier, Leo Margets as well as Team Onlines Marc-Andre Ladouceur and Caio Pessagno. The players hail from 65 countries including 346 Americans who defied atrocious weather in the States to get to the Bahamas. They accounted for 34% of the field, with 143 Canadians also present (14%). See below for nationality pie chart and info graphic on how well Americans have performed at the PCA over the years! PCA 2014 MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES Seat 1: Pascal LeFrancois, 27, Montreal – PokerStars player - 5,595,000Canadian student Pascal LeFrancois first shot to fame in 2010 when he won the WSOP $1,500 NL Event $568,974. However it wasnt his victory that made him famous – it was the fact that he ripped off his shirt and posed bare-skinned in the traditional winners photo shot. It was the first time any player in the history of the WSOP had gone bare-chested for the champions portrait. He said at the time that hed done as a joke for friends: "They were all cheering for me to take off my shirt. I was excited, so I did it." Only a month after that victory, LeFrancois then went really deep in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 11th for $ 635,011 – his biggest cash to date. His other major result was runner-up to fellow Canadian Jonathan Roy in the 2012 WPT Montreal Main Event for $470,130. His lifetime tournament winnings already total nearly $1.8 million. LeFrancois is here at the PCA for the fourth time and has been an EPT regular for the last four years as well. He is one of a large group of French-Canadian players who have started playing on the EPT circuit. You can follow Pascal via twitter: @Pass_LeFrancois Seat 2: Dominik Panka, 22, Poland – PokerStars qualifier - 3,695,000Panka, who hails from the tiny town of Brzesc Kujawski in Poland, is enjoying the deepest run hes ever experienced in a live event. Before this years PCA Main Event, Panka only had $8,092 in live tournament cashes to his name, the majority of that from a 42nd place finish in the EPT 10 Barcelona Estrellas €2k High Roller. Guaranteed $173,220 for eighth making the PCA final, Panka is now set to earn at least 21 times his lifetime tournament cashes. Panka is the ninth player hailing from Poland to make an EPT final table but no Pole has ever laid claim to a title. Entering the final table fourth in chips, Panka has a solid chance to make history and become the first Polish EPT champion. He won his seat to the 2014 PCA in a $700 Mega Qualifier on PokerStars. Seat 3: Seat: Shyam Srinivasan, 32, Toronto, Canada – PokerStars qualifierShyam Srinivasan isnt a well-recognized face on the live circuit, but his online handles "gs zee" (PokerStars) and "s_dot111" (Full Tilt Poker) certainly are by those in the know. Srinivasan has clocked up more than $7m in online tournament winnings and is looking to convert that success into a PCA title tomorrow. "I think Im gonna win," Srinivasan told the PokerStarrs Blog. Mets Tom Seaver Jersey. "Thats it. Im not here to do anything else. I know Im gonna win. I told myself Im gonna win… and anything else would be a disappointment to me because you dont know when this opportunity will come up again." Srinivasan won his seat in the PCA $700 Qualifier on PokerStars. Seat 4: Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron, 26, Chicago, USA - 2,995,000Originally from Menlo Park, California, Baron now calls Chicago, Illinois home. Its not the only major change for the 26-year-old online poker legend. Baron has lost a lot of weight in recent months and is hardly recognizable. This is Barons first major final table in nearly two years. "Its been a while since I made a big final table. Ive kind of been flying under the radar. I havent been playing too many tournaments," he said." In the meantime, the man with millions in online wins and $2.6 million in live cashes has been playing live cash games and taking some college classes. Hes looking forward to getting back to the big time. "I had decided to give tournaments a break for a little while, but I decided in the New Year I was going to give them another go. Its going good so far." Seat 5: Fabian Ortiz, 44, Chaco, Argentina - 3,040,000Fabian Ortiz, a 44-year-old businessman from Argentina, has owned several discos during his career, but recently hes been doing most of his dancing on the poker circuit. Ortiz was the first Latin American player to win a LAPT title when he made a sensational comeback from just one small blind to take down LAPT2 Viña del Mar in Chile in January 2009. But his biggest live result was last summer when he finished 17th in the WSOP Main Event for a cash of $357,655. His lifetime tournament winnings of $565,570 put him at third on the Argentina All-time money list, behind Team PokerStars Pros Nacho Barbero and Leo Fernandez. Seat 6: Mike McDonald, 24, Waterloo, Canada - PokerStars qualifier - 5,605,000Canadian phenom Mike McDonald is currently in second place, and looking a very strong contender in the bid to become the first-ever two-time European Poker Tour Main Event champion. The 24-year-old from Ontario, whose lifetime tournament winnings already total nearly $6 million, first shot to fame in 2008 when he became the youngest ever EPT winner, taking down the EPT Dortmund Main Event for €933,600, aged just 18. He came close to retaining his title the following year, with a fifth place finish. As well as making the final of this PCAs $100k Super High Roller, his phenomenal results also include third at EPT Deauville, bubbling the EPT Madrid final and making the final in both the EPT Barcelona Super High Rollers - in 2012 and last August. Like 426 other players, McDonald won his PCA 2014 seat on PokerStars – but he isnt just any old qualifier - he was actually the very FIRST player win a package, securing his trip in a $700 qualifier back in August last year. Seat 7: Madis Muur, 27, Tallinn, Estonia – PokerStars qualifier – 6,205,000Muur enters the final table as the chip leader with 6,205,000. Hailing from the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Muur is mainly an online player, focusing his attention on mid-stakes tournaments on PokerStars during the week, and the majors on Sunday. This is the Estonians first year on the European Poker Tour, as he only plays live if he is fortunate enough to qualify. Muur has already won seats to three of the four EPT Main Events this season, playing in London and Barcelona along with PCA. Muur finished 12th in the EPT Barcelona Main Event, earning $78,892, and has just over $100,000 in career tournament earnings. He has already doubled that number by reaching this final table, and will be looking for his first seven-figure score on Monday. Seat 8: Daniel Gamez, 29, Guatemala City – PokerStars player - 1,885,000Gamez is a recreational poker player who invested some $4,000 in online qualifiers and finally won his trip to the PCA in a $33 unlimited rebuy satellite. A keen golfer, Gamez works as an event coordinator for his familys radio company in Guatemala and is soon to be a dad in February. The former communications student mainly plays mid stakes multi-table tournaments online. He has been to the PCA three times but this is his first ever live cash. His biggest online cash was $17,500. He said: "My dad is my mentor and if I win the tournament I plan to help him out with the company." Gamez, whose Panamanian wife is expecting the couples first child in February, came to the Bahamas with his friend Juan Carlos. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '