Tony La Russa is the one that got away. He had been fired by Hawk Harrelson in the middle of the 1986 campaign, starting the chain reaction that sent him to Oakland and a Hall of Fame career. Even when the Chicago White Sox won their own championship in 2005, owner Jerry Reinsdorf continued to pine for La Russa, wondering what could have been.
He got a second chance in 2021. La Russa was surprisingly hired as the White Sox manager as Reinsdorf got his man decades later. While the White Sox won the division in his first season at the helm, the AL Central was not exactly a powerhouse. It remained to be seen what would happen when the division improved in the offseason.
Tony La Russa needs to go for Chicago White Sox to have a chance
This season has been a disaster. The White Sox are 26-29 heading into Friday, one of the more disappointing teams in the game. La Russa has not helped, making questionable decisions and seemingly not paying attention until it is too late as his pitchers begin to struggle.
Those problems came to a head on Thursday. Dylan Cease quickly fell apart with two outs in the fifth inning, the excellent beginning to his start undone by an error. La Russa finally got Matt Foster up and into the game, but by that point, the Dodgers had taken a lead they would not relinquish.
The crowning moment of stupidity came in the top of the sixth inning. The White Sox were within striking distance, down 7-5, as Bennett Sousa had Trea Turner on a 1-2 count with two outs in the inning. Maybe La Russa woke up from his nap or suddenly remembered a plan that only he knew of, but he requested an intentional walk at that moment.
As Aaron Gleeman from The Athletic pointed out, the league has a .167 batting average with two strikes. That drops to .164 with a 1-2 count. Batting average would likely be a statistic that La Russa would understand, even if advanced metrics are beyond him at this point. And yet, he walked Turner anyway to get to Max Muncy, who had a hilarious reaction after blasting a three run homer.
The White Sox managed to close the gap, eventually losing 11-9. That loss is entirely on La Russa, and a microcosm of his performance on the bench thus far in 2022. As for that intentional walk? He does not have any second thoughts, saying it was an easy decision.
There is one easy decision that should be made. The game has obviously passed La Russa by. If the White Sox are going to live up to their potential and fight for a playoff berth, a change needs to happen quickly. That change has to be on the bench, with La Russa being fired.
The Chicago White Sox are one of the more disappointing teams in the game. Firing Tony La Russa may not fix everything, but it would be a great start.