3 Tony La Russa mistakes that doomed the White Sox in ALDS

1. Stoking the old flames of the Astros sign-stealing scandal by making it a talking point in 2021

The whole Astros sign-stealing scandal didn’t go over so well in the MLB.

Even Alex Cora had to step away from the Boston Red Sox for a year because of his 2017 involvement with the Houston team.

But La Russa and his team thought it was a good idea to offer their own opinions on the Astros’ reputation while facing a 2-1 deficit before Game 4.

La Russa proposed his own method of preventing sign-stealing, which embodies a bizarre parallel to hide-and-seek. La Russa expected professional baseball players to merely turn their back to the pitcher while he gives his catcher a signal.

“Tony’s idea to the league was to require the runner on second base turn towards CF when the sign is given to the catcher. Then turn back,” reported Jesse Rogers of ESPN.

Somehow, La Russa’s second suggestion was even more ludicrous.

“La Russa’s other idea was to have a fielder stand in front of the baserunner when the sign is given but he figured that would lead to some nasty confrontations,” Rogers said.

Unsurprisingly, league officials left La Russa’s suggestions on the table, but airing these suggestions while facing the Astros surely motivated Houston to pummel the White Sox during each win.

Then reliever Ryan Tepera accused the Astros of cheating…again.

While it was proven the Astros cheated in 2017, cheating accusations tend to follow teams even when they have legitimate wins — just look at the erroneous conspiracy theories surrounding the New England Patriots and Deflategate.

All La Russa’s and Tepera’s comments did was stoke the fire burning beneath the Astros. And with that, La Russa made another decision that cost the White Sox the Divisional Series.