PHOENIX -- Tony La Russa has never missed the managing part of baseball since retiring in 2011. 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." Doug Williams Jersey .com) - Nathan MacKinnon scored the winning goal in the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche rallied for a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Terry McLaurin Redskins Jersey . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Sammy-Baugh-Jersey/ . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Bryce Love Jersey . The Los Angeles Clippers showed them just how ugly that life could be. Jared Dudley scored a season-high 21 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and 17 assists, and the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls in Roses absence for a 121-82 victory Sunday. Sam Huff Womens Jersey . The Marlies surrendered two power-play goals and failed to score on six man-advantage opportunities en route to a 4-1 defeat in American Hockey League action on Saturday.Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart believes Ben Stokes could open the batting alongside Jason Roy for their World T20 game with Afghanistan if Alex Hales is ruled out through injury. Hales and Roy have struck up a positive partnership at the top of the order but Nottinghamshires Hales is struggling with a back problem that will be assessed on Wednesday morning ahead of the game, live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 9am.James Vince appears likely to come in to replace him but former England captain Stewart is keen to see Stokes and Roy opening the batting in Delhi. It will be a huge blow, Jason Roy and Alex Hales are two very destructive players and they have created a very good opening partnership, Stewart told Sky Sports News HQ.Lets hope he is 100 per cent fit and the two of them can go out and open the batting and repeat what they did the other day against South Africa.You want to still take the attacking options and I wouldnt be against pushing Ben Stokes up the top of the order if Alex Hales isnt fit. Eoin Morgan says England will leave their decision over playing a third spinner against Afghanistan on Wednesday until the last minute. Theres James Vince there in reserve but if Ben Stokes bats for 10 or 12 overs, England will win the game, I promise you that.He doesnt open too often, perhaps just one or two occasions for Durham, but I would gamble and say to Ben go up there, show how good you are, and bat with Jason Roy.Stewart is well aware of Roys abilities, having regularly seen him oppening the batting for Surrey, and he feels he has the ability to swing a game in his teams favour in the same way Stokes can.dddddddddddd He is a destructive player. If you speak to bowlers, he is one of the last batsmen they would want to bowl to, Stewart said of Roy.He destroyed Dale Steyn in that opening over [against South Africa], to really set the tone for England to go on and win that game.Joe Root took the plaudits and rightly so but Jason Roy really took the attack to the opposition, he put them on the backfoot, to allow England to bring that run-rate down. Surrey Director of Cricket Stewart would like to see Stokes and Jason Roy bat together at the top of the order Just like Stokes, if Roy bats 10 overs in a 20-over game, that side will win more times than not.He [Roy] just needs to bat a little longer now and get 75 or even a hundred.As for Englands chances of winning the tournament, Stewart is convinced they can beat anyone on their day and could yet cause an upset.I said before the tournament started, England wont be one of the favourites but they are a very dangerous side, he added.We saw that against South Africa and although we didnt see it [in their opening defeat] against West Indies, if they are on their A game, they can beat anyone. Morgan unsure on third spinner Eoin Morgan will make late call on how many spinners will face Afghanistan I include West Indies and India in that, who are probably the two favourites, although we must not discount New Zealand.If England can repeat what they did with the bat against South Africa, they then need to be just a little bit smarter with the ball and execute their variations a little better.They can go all the way but they have to be on their A game.Watch England v Afghanistan in the World T20 on Wednesday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 HD at 9am. Also See: Moeen: Spin could be crucial Root inspires record chase Morgan unsure on third spinner Cricket video ' ' '