White Sox hire Hall of Famer Tony La Russa as manager for the second time
By Mike Luciano
The Chicago White Sox hired Tony La Russa as manager in a surprising move.
The Chicago White Sox finally broke their postseason drought on the back of a genuinely exciting young core highlighted by Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, but ownership still decided manager Rick Renteria wasn’t the guy for the job after the season. While the thought of replacing Renteria with 76-year-old Tony La Russa seemed almost impossible to White Sox fans, owner Jerry Reinsdorf has indeed pulled him out of retirement after a decade away from the dugout.
While they did put feelers out for former Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch, the White Sox settled on La Russa, officially declaring the Hall of Famer and three-time champion as the club’s next manager.
Tony La Russa, a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, the third-winningest manager in baseball history, a three-time World Series champion and a four-time winner of the Manager of the Year Award, has been named the new manager of the Chicago White Sox. pic.twitter.com/RKP24rleHP
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) October 29, 2020
Tony La Russa, a Hall of Famer, will manage the White Sox for a second time
La Russa, who managed the White Sox from 1979 to 1986 while winning just over half of his games in charge, got this job because of his connections to owner Reinsdorf, who called firing La Russa the biggest mistake of his tenure as White Sox owner. La Russa went on to manage for 26 seasons after his firing with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals.
La Russa won three straight AL Pennants in Oakland, winning the championship once. After moving to St. Louis in 1996, he made the playoffs 10 times in 16 seasons, winning three NL pennants and two World Series titles. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014 alongside fellow managerial legends Joe Torre and Bobby Cox.
The Chicago White Sox have hired Hall of Famer Tony La Russa as their new manager. La Russa, 76, managed the White Sox from 1979-86, and his firing was owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s great regret. La Russa last managed in 2011, when he led St. Louis to a championship.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 29, 2020
La Russa made the transition to an executive role after his retirement, serving as chief baseball officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2014 to 2017. After joining the Boston Red Sox as an assistant to Dave Dombrowski, he spent last season as a senior baseball advisor with the Los Angeles Angels
Risky doesn’t even begin to describe this, as the White Sox will trust a very young team in a wide-open division to an old-school guy who hasn’t managed in a decade. While La Russa has clearly proven he can win consistently, Reinsdorf will have egg on his face if this doesn’t pan out.
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