ST. LOUIS — There will be homecomings galore as the current St. Louis Cardinals manager and the former St. Louis Cardinals manager will highlight the National League coaching staff headed to Busch Stadium for the 80th All-Star Game, according to an announcement made this morning by Major League Baseball.

Tony La Russa and Joe Torre will serve as manager Charlie Manuel’s coaches for the midsummer classic.

During a visit to St. Louis earlier this season, Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said he had hoped that both La Russa and Torre would accept invitations to be on his staff for the All-Star Game, which will be held July 14th at Busch Stadium. Manuel said those two managers “are at the top of my list.”

La Russa is in his 14th season as the manager of the Cardinals.

In addition to winning an MVP as a player in 1971 with the Cardinals, Torre returned to the team in 1990 as the manager. He served until 1995. Torre then went on to join the New York Yankees and skipper the team of the decade to four World Series championships and six American League pennants.

La Russa has been an All-Star manager five times, most recently in 2007. Torre has been the AL All-Star manager six times, and he was a nine-time All-Star as a player.

American League All-Star manager Joe Maddon selected two newcomers to fill out his coaching staff. The Tampa Bay Rays’ manager, a devoted Cardinals fan as a youth, has invited Kansas City manager Trey Hillman and Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu to be on his staff. This is Hillman’s second season at the helm of the Royals, and Wakamatsu is in his first season with the M’s.

More on StlToday.com later this afternoon from La Russa on his appointment.

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