OK, maybe Tony La Russa isn’t playing right now, but the manager of the Chicago White Sox has certainly shown a penchant for playing the role of the bad guy this season.
Let’s remember back in May when he and Yermin Mercedes had a disagreement on a home run that Mercedes hit off a position player in a White Sox blowout win. There were even rumors that the incident was causing Mercedes to step away from the game (spoiler alert, he didn’t).
Not all MLB heels need to be players
And let’s not forget this fine moment from La Russa when Jose Abreu was hit in the head during a game against the Cleveland Indians and La Russa shuffled from the dugout to strangely get in the face of Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez, who was tending to Abreu. Benches would clear because of the incident.
So maybe La Russa himself couldn’t be a wrestler right now, but he could make a great manager of one of the villains. La Russa could distract the hero or referee just long enough to have the heel get the upper hand.
La Russa has been an agent of chaos this season on Chicago’s South Side, so why not carry that over into the ring?