White Sox hire Tony LaRussa as manager
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
That sound you hear is the "times they are a changin' but he's refeshingly old school" Mad Lib articles by sports media writing themselves.
I'm not optimistic that too many sportswriters will challenge him too much since he's sepia-toned and too many folks will want to hear hoary chestnuts about the old days. I am optimistic that LaRussa will step into it quite a bit on his own to the extent that he will force everyone's hand to address elephants in the corner when covering him and the team.
I'm not optimistic that too many sportswriters will challenge him too much since he's sepia-toned and too many folks will want to hear hoary chestnuts about the old days. I am optimistic that LaRussa will step into it quite a bit on his own to the extent that he will force everyone's hand to address elephants in the corner when covering him and the team.
I watched a bit of the KBO game this morning on ESPN2 and they had a sportwriter on talking LaRussa (instead of the game). I thought from the voice it was Buster Olney but it turned out to be Jesse Rogers (totally unfamiliar with him). He just kept waxing poetic about LaRussa and how the detractors saying he's out of touch are so wrong. "Oh, he's not been out of baseball since he retired from managing...he's been in the front offices in Boston and Arizona." and "It's not like he was out of touch when he was last managing and he was only 66 then." Oh, well okay then. It was kinda frightening how much he was kissing LaRussa's ass. The national media seems on board with him, at least based on that and the few tweets I've seen.
Substitute analogous baseball language and the discussion goes something like this:
View: https://youtu.be/hPDOYPxSSv0
View: https://youtu.be/hPDOYPxSSv0
It'll be fun to see the Astros-White Sox games as LaRussa's and Dusty's teams always seemed to be unfriendly toward each other.
No Astro starter threw 130 pitches in a start all season. Highest in the regular season was Framber Valdéz at 113. Only Astros to hit 100 in the postseason were Valdéz (101) and Lance McCullers Jr. (100).
Passan's sincere takedown:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30220736/why-tony-la-russa-sincerely-curious-choice-white-sox-manager
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30220736/why-tony-la-russa-sincerely-curious-choice-white-sox-manager
Joe Posnanski and Ken Tremendous put up an emergency podcast that eviscerated the LaRussa decision from team-building, social, baseball strategy and business strategy points of view and is a typically good listen.
Do we have any White Sox fans on the board? I was really looking forward to hopping that bandwagon this year, but now I’ll be hate watching them.
Do we have any White Sox fans on the board? I was really looking forward to hopping that bandwagon this year, but now I’ll be hate watching them.
LaRussa was charged for a DUI the day before he was hired.
View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1325982315823116288?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1325982315823116288?s=21
If the MLB had an Adam Silver as commissioner, this wouldn't be forced sale of the team territory for Reinsdorf, but he'd be on the watch list for sure. But everyone is just going to look the other way on this one.
I guess I'll be the one to say it...The Red Sox just re-hired one of the biggest cheaters in professional sports history.
Because he was the manager to help them win a WS title a couple years ago.
I mean, I get it. We all have different tolerance levels.
Because he was the manager to help them win a WS title a couple years ago.
I mean, I get it. We all have different tolerance levels.
But Cora isn't an asshole, advantage Cora.
Also, you have a very narrow view of sports history.
Cora might be a great guy, but so what. He's got a massive character flaw he shares with several other people. And he was rehired by the team he helped lead to a WS title after his transgression. The Red Sox made a calculated decision to look the other way.
Have the last word, and I know my opinion will get piled upon, but whatever. I know it's not apples to apples. And I know substance abuse and DUI are horrible, life-ending plagues on our society. Yet...Ten thousand foot view still sees some hypocrisy.
He was an employee of the Astros at the time, his boss in Houston has been hired to manage again. I don't see the source of outrage. The former Astros GM now going Trump denial and the fact that the players paid no price (just like COVID Turner) says a lot about where MLB is right now.
My preference was for the Sox to turn the page and move on, but it wasn't because Cora shouldn't be managing again in MLB in 2021.
The outrage is in the lack of accountability, and nobody said he shouldn't manage again. My only point is the glass house that gets built around Boston due to the hire.
You do realize that people have been discussing this precise issue elsewhere and it's not like there's a unanimity of opinion on the matter.
More to the point, WTF does this have to do with the White Sox hiring of Tony LaRussa? (Hint: nothing.)
Which issue? The LaRussa signing or the Cora signing?
As I previously stated, it has everything to do with the fact Boston fans are pointing out anomalies in the White Sox approach to the hiring of management.
It reeks of irony.
Dude, seriously. There is a Cora thread in the Red Sox forum, take it there like you were told
This is the LaRussa thread and it feels like you are trying to defend his behaviour, which is pretty scary
If you don’t understand the difference between driving drunk and cheating in a baseball game I’d like to request you stay off the roads
I believe you know exactly what I’m referring to, but to be clear, I’m referring to the Cora hiring, which is being discussed in the Red Sox forum.
In actual fact, it reeks of having a conversation about the wisdom of hiring a 76 year old who appears to have a drinking problem as your manager.
That you would characterize LaRussa’s hiring as “anomalies in the White Sox approach to the hiring of management” tells me everything I need to know about your motives and fundamental honesty.
I would advise you to cut the shit.
Maybe EnochRoot should be concerned because it looks like the hiring of LaRussa is turning away at least one major free agent.
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1326203405665247232
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1326203405665247232
To put it in further context, that tweet that Rosenthal quoted was in direct response to the question "how much money would it take for to play for an old and seemingly racist alcoholic?"
Actually, it reeks of lazy thinking.
If you think the LaRussa and Cora hirings are analogous, make your case. The analogy is certainly not self-evident, unless you think it’s notable that neither man is a candidate for sainthood.
I dont think it involves "pointing out anomalies in the White Sox approach" at all. Only the result. I dont even know what the White Sox "approach" was.
the media continues to dig at this.
"ESPN obtained the full arrest report for Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa's DUI charge.
"Do you see my ring?" La Russa said to the arresting officer. "I'm a Hall of Famer baseball person. I'm legit. I'm a Hall of Famer, brother." " - Passan
View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1326237087084011524?s=21
"ESPN obtained the full arrest report for Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa's DUI charge.
"Do you see my ring?" La Russa said to the arresting officer. "I'm a Hall of Famer baseball person. I'm legit. I'm a Hall of Famer, brother." " - Passan
View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1326237087084011524?s=21
Reinsdorf isn't firing LaRussa unless the front-office staff threaten to quit or players demand trades. Even then it's unclear.
This escalated quickly and confirmed everything we already suspected might be wrong with a LaRussa hiring: he would be, in public, exactly who he already is as a manager.
Apart from everything else, this shows someone really in touch with the game in 2020:
"La Russa said he was returning from a dinner with "friends with the California Angels baseball team.""
He was on his way to visit his friends at the Seattle Pilots next, I guess.
"La Russa said he was returning from a dinner with "friends with the California Angels baseball team.""
He was on his way to visit his friends at the Seattle Pilots next, I guess.
To be clear: "I only had 1" equals "I have been drinking" and the police don't really care how much at that point.
Stating the obvious, but - There's, of course, the option of not driving soon after having had alcohol.
Just saying.
Just saying.
This article from Jen Mac Ramos at Baseball Prospectus is well worth reading.
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/63055/tony-la-russas-embarrassment-goes-beyond-himself-dui-drunk-driving-chicago-white-sox/
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/63055/tony-la-russas-embarrassment-goes-beyond-himself-dui-drunk-driving-chicago-white-sox/
Yes, I hope that goes without saying.
At the same time, I should not have needed to read that BP article, to realize I was too flip about it.
While this is probably true, if Stroman's stance starts to emerge from other FA, it won't be good for the franchise.
Sure, of course the owner bypassing all the baseball executives to hire the manager himself already tells everyone that the franchise is a shitshow even if the owner had picked a good manager instead of a washed up racist alcoholic.
Personally, I’m looking forward to watching this unfold. I feel like we’re going to get some really great stories. Some more really great stories, out of this.
