The footage of the Feb. 24, 2020 incident was released Tuesday to WGN News ... and it's pretty wild.

In the clip, you can see officers in the Phoenix, AZ area had approached La Russa on the side of the road after his car had apparently suffered some major tire damage.

La Russa can be heard on the video having a talk with one cop about his ride ... which eventually led to questions about whether the 76-year-old had been drinking before getting behind the wheel.

La Russa initially said he hadn't had anything to drink ... but after cops told him he blew a .09 (the legal limit is .08), Tony then admitted he DID have a glass of wine before driving.

Tony was eventually placed in cuffs and thrown in the back of a squad car ... and that's when you can see in the footage, he became unhappy.

He griped about his cuffs, and then said, "I'm legitimate. I'm with the Angels. I'm a Hall of Famer."

In video, though, you can see at least one cop had no idea who La Russa was ... because an officer had to explain to the other La Russa's resume.

"He's a f***ing Hall of Famer," one officer said ... before adding, "This guy's like the Michael Jordan of baseball ... like World Series manager, like Manager of the Year."

La Russa -- who was hired as the Chicago White Sox manager just months after the arrest -- was ultimately hit with two misdemeanor DUI charges, though he struck a deal with prosecutors back in Dec. 2020 to close out the case.

Court records show La Russa agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving ... and, in exchange, officials agreed to drop the other DUI charge.

La Russa was ordered to spend one day in jail -- though his attorney said the MLB manager was allowed to serve it via home confinement.

Kazan also said La Russa was ordered to pay a $1,300 fine and complete 20 hours of community service as part of his sentencing.

La Russa eventually opened up about the arrest in Feb. 2021, explaining, "It was an inexcusable mistake."