If Tony La Russa doesn’t win in 2021, Chicago has to dump him

Tony La Russa needs immediate success as manager of the White Sox.

The Chicago White Sox were lambasted for their hiring of Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, as he had spent nearly the entire last decade out of the dugout. The move, which could at least be justified as a “win now” decision that saw Rick Renteria booted out of town, has gone from bad to worse after his legal history has been unearthed.

The latest piece of La Russa embarrassment was him getting pulled over and charged with driving under the influence. His grammatically shabby excuse of “I’m a Hall of Famer baseball person” has turned up the pressure on what is already a very combustible situation in Chicago.

The baseball world has been laughing at Tony La Russa in 2021

Hiring a 76-year-old manager, regardless of his past credentials, is a sign that ownership is expecting results from the very second the first pitch is thrown. If taking a young team with big personalities to the top of the division wasn’t a difficult enough task already, La Russa now has to do that with a spectre of controversy looming over him.

If the White Sox hypothetically take a step back in 2021, ownership will have canned a man who was up for Manager of the Year in favor of a proverbial dinosaur that got in trouble with the law and managed to mishandle Chicago’s playoff hopes in a weak division. With minimal time to turn it around, Reinsdorf might just admit his mistake and get rid of the La Russa headache after one season.

La Russa has a few rings on his fingers, so there is reason to believe he can turn this around. If he doesn’t, Reinsdorf should have no qualms about sending him up the street.