It doesn’t have to be this hard, but it’s just another day as a Chicago White Sox fan.
When the team fired American League Manager of the Year candidate Rick Renteria after its elimination in the wild card round, many assumed the team would pursue a manager with championship experience such as A.J. Hinch or Alex Cora. Instead, the team decided to travel back to a different era and hire Tony La Russa.
Before we explore how terrible of a decision this was, team owner Jerry Reinsdorf has said on record that one of his biggest regrets was firing La Russa in 1985. This is a move that rights a previous wrong for Reinsdorf, but it comes at a steep price for the organization. Instead of hiring Hinch, who could have managed this team for 10-plus years, the Sox hired a 76-year-old manager who hasn’t managed a game since 2011 and will likely retire again in three-plus years. If there are two things that don’t mix, it’s Jerry Reinsdorf and his need for one specific guy.
La Russa was once ahead of his time as a major league manager, and his resume speaks for itself. The Hall of Famer managed in baseball from 1979 until 2011, winning three World Series with the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently third on baseball’s all-time managerial wins list with 2,728. However, La Russa’s contributions to the game, such as the implementation of the one-inning closer, were in a much different era than today’s game.
Many years ago, the manager was the master tactician who was viewed as an on-field mini-general. Today, baseball strategy is dominated by analytics, where the front office is more in charge than the manager. La Russa was very much a part of the latter generation that is vehemently anti-information. He is undoubtedly behind the times when compared to modern-day managers.
Moreover, La Russa is inheriting a young White Sox core that includes Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert. The team fields a young and diverse roster that plays with swagger, personality and rejection of the old norms of baseball, also known as the “unwritten rules.” La Russa is one of the gatekeepers to the old norms of baseball which prioritizes the tradition of these rules, which is contrary to how the Sox’ young core plays the game.
Perhaps, the biggest question La Russa has to answer is how he will connect with a young, diverse group of players on this White Sox roster. He has been absent from the dugout for nine years, almost missing an entire generation of new major league players. In his time away from the game, the way players use their platforms to speak on societal issues has also changed from a formerly apolitical state. La Russa has some issues ahead with that due to previous statements he made about former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s racial justice protests.
“I think that’s disrespectful, and I really question the sincerity of somebody like Kaepernick … and even if he was sincere, there are other ways to show your concern. Disrespecting our flag is not the way to do it,” La Russa told Maggie Gray of Sports Illustrated in 2016.
Though he said his views on the issue have “changed” during his introductory press conference, actions speak louder than words.
There are many issues La Russa faces in his return to the dugout. However, it never should have come to this. La Russa should have never been hired in the first place. He is undoubtedly the wrong choice for an up-and-coming White Sox team and modern-day baseball.
After all, it doesn’t matter for Reinsdorf, who has been the biggest detriment to the team’s success since he bought the team in 1981. This is a move that makes him happy because he righted a previous regret in his mind, but fans are rightly outraged.
So much of the good that general manager Rick Hahn has been building toward the last three years feels tarnished all of a sudden. A team that is on the brink of greatness gave into its worst tendencies at the worst time, and it could cost them their chance at that greatness.
