White Sox explanation for hiring Tony La Russa will enrage fans

Tony La Russa was introduced as the next Chicago White Sox manager, and fans won’t be any happier after his first press conference. 

When you have one of the youngest, most exciting, and talented on-the-rise teams in baseball, what do you do to take things to the next level?

If you said hire what Get Off My Lawn would be if it was a manager, you must run the Chicago White Sox.

Less than a month after surging into the MLB postseason with a team of young stars and a roster of exciting talent, the White Sox named Tony La Russa as manager.

Yes, that Tony La Russa.

News of his hiring went horribly, as White Sox fans were in almost universal revolt. La Russa hasn’t managed a game since 2011 and while he’s been part of baseball front office action, he’s been away from the dugout for almost a decade. The game has rather significantly changed since La Russa was a manager, and that’s only the first of many, many issues fans have with this hire.

Here’s what La Russa said about players exercising the right to protest:

If you want a true baseball reason for questioning this hire, let’s check in on La Russa’s stance on players expressing themselves a la Tim Anderson’s bat flip:

The quote about protesting was from the height of anti-Kaepernick sentiment among crotchety old white guys back in 2016 and to his credit, La Russa made note of how he’s softened his stance on such things during his press conference.

But the anti-fun quote was about Fernando Tatis earlier this season, which is another thing on the list of things Sox fans are upset about when it comes to this hire.

Sox fans hoping that their angst would be washed away by La Russa’s introductory press conference were gifted with this rhetorical gem which doesn’t answer any questions nor quell any fears that this will all end very badly.

Sweet nothings say more than that statement, and it’s the type of rhetorical blubbering that Sox fans will not only see right through but won’t feel any less discouraged by.

La Russa clashes with the White Sox style and trajectory in just about every way, and the number of ways this doesn’t work out far outnumber the ways that it does. What makes this most frustrating is the Sox selling La Russa as some sort of savior savant when there is any number of younger managers with bolder ideas. Rocco Baldelli has turned the haphazard Twins into a 100-win ball club (in the Sox’s division, no less), David Bell managed the Reds to a division title (La Russa’s old division), and the list goes on of young managers or coaches looking to become managers that are ushering in a new era for baseball. Sal Fasano, Phil Nevin, or Mark Kotsay were all candidates this offseason that come from both winning and well run organizations set up for future success.

Rather than pick one of those guys or even someone like A.J. Hinch, the White Sox turned back the clock for no justifiable reason. Don’t fall victim to either the ageism defense or the flaunting of La Russa’s Hall of Fame status. The justifiable reasons for being annoyed with this hire are more about how the game has passed La Russa by than his accolades or age. Joe Gibbs returned to Washington eight years after his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but went 30-24 and missed the playoffs in two of the four years he coached. The game had passed him by, which doesn’t take away from what he accomplished but doesn’t make his return any less of a failure.

Saying La Russa is going to take the team to the next level and him actually being capable of doing it in an era where his methods are outdated, is on way to spin a potential oncoming disaster.