Four random ideas from one of many extra memorable days in current Chicago White Sox historical past.
1. Tony La Russa left Monday’s information convention with none goodbyes or handshakes with the media that spent the final two years masking his controversial stint as Sox supervisor.
It was the proper ending to a relationship that by no means bought off the bottom.
La Russa by no means pretended he had a lot use for us, which was high-quality. He’s not the primary supervisor to imagine he was above the media, and as a Hall of Famer, maybe he felt his credentials made him past reproach at any time when questioned about lineups or technique.
He nonetheless was handled pretty and given an opportunity to defend his strategies after each questionable choice.
“The most ridiculous thing in this season has been the (conversation about the) 1-2 (intentional) walk,” La Russa mentioned in August, referring to questioning of the intentional stroll he ordered to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trea Turner in June.
It didn’t work and La Russa was extensively criticized for it, however you knew he needed to attempt it once more to show he was proper. The second time he did it, the Sox pitcher bought out of the inning, and La Russa used that second to tell us we had been all improper.
He mentioned we should always “talk to 100 baseball guys” to see in the event that they agreed with him on the Turner transfer.
I haven’t spoken to 100 baseball guys, however I’ve requested fairly a number of and have but to seek out anybody who agreed with La Russa’s intentional stroll choice.
I suppose that’s why we’ll miss him, even when he most likely received’t miss us.
La Russa’s cussed refusal to confess when he was improper was a part of the explanation he was a lot enjoyable to cowl. Better to chronicle somebody who’s at the least fascinating than one of many modern-day managers who repeatedly says, “We’re grinding.” Readers couldn’t ignore La Russa in the event that they needed.
At Monday’s information convention, La Russa responded to a query about what the subsequent supervisor must do with a rambling response about his love for his gamers. He ended with a promise to maintain his evaluations secret.
“I actually have an idea of where my priorities should have been, and your chances of hearing it are zero,” La Russa mentioned. “But they will.”
No drawback. La Russa doesn’t have to inform us the place he went improper. We watched all of it season. Hopefully he writes a ebook about his stint and sells it within the bookstore he talked about opening.
2. Liam Hendriks’ insistence Sox gamers had been overconfident to the purpose of ‘arrogance’ jogged my memory of the same quote from Jerry Reinsdorf.
“It began at the top and worked its way down to the rest,” the Sox chairman advised the Tribune’s Mike Kiley in 1985 concerning the 1984 collapse. “We all had that attitude, (President) Eddie Einhorn and myself included, and overconfidence ended up hurting the team.”
Hahn mentioned Monday that Reinsdorf pointed to ‘84 as his most “disappointing” season until this year’s staff.
After the ‘84 debacle, the Sox let 34-year-old slugger Greg Luzinski go as an alternative of re-signing him to a one-year deal, sending “The Bull” off to an early retirement. The largest offseason transfer was dealing onetime ace LaMarr Hoyt to the San Diego Padres for a package deal of gamers that included 21-year-old rookie shortstop Ozzie Guillén.
Hoyt advised Tribune columnist Bob Verdi afterward the Sox “wanted to pay less” after their ‘83 success.
“Maybe they’re expecting baseball will become like football, with revenue sharing, where it doesn’t matter if you win,” Hoyt mentioned. “I’m just a 30-year-old pitcher, so I can’t tell them how to run their business. But I saw where Reinsdorf said he was never going to make the mistake of paying guys for one good year. Well, I’m making a million bucks. But I didn’t have one good year for them. I had four.”
Sometimes historical past repeats itself.
3. Changes are on the best way for the Sox conditioning program after a season of debilitating accidents.
Stop us if you happen to’ve heard this earlier than.
“We’re still in the process of evaluating what we do from a pre-rehab standpoint, a pre-injury prevention standpoint,” Hahn mentioned. “And I suspect we’re going to have changes in the coming months or additions.”
The Sox let go of longtime energy and conditioning coach Allen Thomas final season, saying they had been “re-imagining” the division. But the muscle accidents continued below his alternative, Goldy Simmons.
The most vital participant to maintain wholesome could be outfielder Eloy Jiménez, who going into Tuesday had performed solely 138 video games over the past two seasons due to numerous accidents.
“I don’t blame luck,” Jiménez mentioned. “I need to work harder to play at least 150 games.”
Asked if his legs can keep wholesome sufficient for a return to left subject subsequent season, he mentioned: “Yeah, I’ve got to work for that.”
Jiménez known as this yr “one of the best seasons I’ve had,” regardless of lacking a lot enjoying time. With free agent José Abreu probably gone, the Sox offense needs to be centered round Jiménez in 2023.
4. Hahn mentioned choosing a brand new supervisor is a ‘collaborative’ effort between him, Reinsdorf and govt vice chairman Ken Williams.
But Reinsdorf was the one who selected his pal La Russa, although nobody has publicly admitted that within the final two years. Hahn insisted he would lead the decision-making for the subsequent supervisor and already has begun taking a look at candidates.
We’ll see if that’s the case, however Reinsdorf at the least owes Hahn the chance to decide on whom he needs this time.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com