Over the years I’ve been a huge fan of Tony LaRussa from his days in Chicago. Obviously those days didn’t end well and he moved on to Oakland and St. Louis leaving some to wonder if it was a good idea to let him go with what he was able to accomplish since leaving Chicago: 6 Pennants and Three World Series wins. So why not bring him back and see if there is any magic left in a 70 plus year old baseball genius. There must be some because they currently lead the American Lead Central.
Recently he got himself into a kerfuffle because one of his young hitters during a blowout hit a Homerun with a 3-0 count on a position player the Minnesota Twins threw out on the mound which is not something unusual. All in the mind of saving the bullpen for the next game where the score isn’t a lot to a little. Obviously a fielder cannot get a pitch up to the speed of a Major League pitcher. The game being a laugher by that point a number of times fielders have given up homeruns and no one gets their backs up over it. In this case LaRussa did because of an old school rule or rules, you don’t show up the other team, you never swing at pitch when you have a count of three balls and no strikes (tantamount to fouling a jump shooter in basketball). It looks bad and if it had been a close game you could have swung at ball 4.
When Yermin Mercedes hit a ninth inning homerun with two out in a 15-4 blowout he broke some rules that I can understand LaRussa being upset about. Swinging on the 3-0 count. Trying to add to an already large margin against a position player, not respecting the other team and just ending the misery. I wouldn’t have gone to the media and lambasted the kid but I would have said something. I wouldn’t have talked about punishing him especially with the exceptionally hot start he had to the season where he was hitting close to .400.
A number of players have come out about LaRussa being out of touch with today’s players and bringing up unwritten rules. Everyone has unwritten rules that logically tells you how to handle a situation without having to be told. It shows a level of respect for your comrade even if he happens to be on another team. Plenty of times those comrades become teammates and you have to relive the situation all over again. However you think it might be funny after a while it would make me think twice about trust. It’s great the White Sox clubhouse has Mercedes’ back and it seems if the White Sox do well this year it’ll be in spite of LaRussa rather than because of his tutelage. But how much can you argue with a Hall of Fame Manager?
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