When Ryne Sandberg got here out of the sport in St. Louis on his closing day within the majors on Sept. 28, 1997, he was changed at second base by Chicago Cubs rookie Miguel Cairo.
Twenty-five years later, Cairo has been tasked with changing one other Hall of Famer, transferring into Tony La Russa’s scorching seat whereas the Chicago White Sox supervisor offers with undisclosed medical points.
USA Today reported La Russa will endure checks on his coronary heart on the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Sox gamers have been informed the identical, and a supply near La Russa confirmed he has handled coronary heart points previously.
How lengthy Cairo might be requested to fill in is unknown.
It may very well be a number of days if La Russa’s medical analysis checks out. Or it may very well be the remainder of the season if medical doctors determine La Russa is best off resting than going via the stress of a pennant race.
La Russa reportedly is signed via 2023, however that additionally seems iffy for a supervisor who will flip 78 subsequent month.
That’s hypothesis for an additional day. For now, all of the Sox can do is ship La Russa their finest needs and attempt to get themselves again right into a division race that looks like a misplaced trigger.
Cairo, 48, finds himself within the awkward place of making an attempt to revive the Sox whereas proving he has the fitting stuff to be a major-league supervisor. He was a shock choose as La Russa’s bench coach in 2021 after three years as a minor-league coordinator for the New York Yankees from 2018-20.
When I requested Wednesday whether or not he desires to handle sooner or later, Cairo hedged.
“I’m going to say I’m day to day on that,” he stated. “Today I’m managing, tomorrow I might be. I’m going to manage maybe tomorrow and the next day. I’m going to take one day at a time. I’m just going to do my best.”
Cairo is changing a legend in La Russa, which is rarely straightforward, as Tim Floyd found when he adopted Phil Jackson as Chicago Bulls coach. But Cairo is also taking on for a supervisor whose model has made him a punching bag for followers and media the final two seasons.
There are two sorts of Sox followers — those that blame La Russa for every thing and those that imagine he’s completely innocent. That form of stress isn’t good for anybody, a lot much less a 77-year-old.
It’s arduous to think about Cairo’s decision-making might be as scrutinized as La Russa’s, until he begins ordering intentional walks with 1-2 counts. He can’t be blamed if the Sox proceed to flounder, however he will be credited in the event that they out of the blue discover the on swap after 5 months of mediocrity.
Cairo stated he has spoken to La Russa in regards to the lineups, so not less than La Russa feels ok to handle by cellphone. He informed Cairo he did an excellent job in Tuesday’s 9-7 loss.
What form of supervisor will Cairo be? An analytically inclined tactician or a by-the-gut man?
“I go by my gut,” he stated. “I watch the game, I watch the scoreboard, that tells you everything. I go to see what we have in the bullpen.”
Cairo stated the toughest a part of managing could be the pitching choices, however he plans on fixed communication with pitching coach Ethan Katz and bullpen coach Curt Hasler.
“They’re really good at what they do,” he stated. “And all the coaches we have here. So it’s going to be teamwork and we’ve got to do it for Tony.”
Whether the Sox gamers can “do it for Tony” stays to be seen. It’s a pleasant sentiment and would make an incredible “30-for-30″ documentary in the event that they gained a World Series for his or her ailing supervisor.
But in truth the gamers ought to do it for themselves. They ought to be bored with being referred to as probably the most underachieving staff in baseball, and because of enjoying in a nasty division, they nonetheless have an opportunity to redeem themselves. But time is operating brief, and the dwindling crowds at Guaranteed Rate Field counsel many Sox followers have stopped believing.
La Russa’s well being scare is one other fork within the highway for the Sox, who up to now have squandered their possibilities of taking on the AL Central despite a better schedule in August.
Cairo stated earlier than Wednesday’s sport he hadn’t spoken to the gamers as a bunch.
Does he plan to?
“I think so, yes,” he stated.
Amazingly, many Sox gamers came upon on social media earlier than Tuesday’s sport that La Russa wouldn’t be managing.
“I saw that the White Sox posted something,” Andrew Vaughn stated, “and I was like: ‘Oh, my goodness. This is crazy.’ And then we had to just go play.”
That lack of urgency in informing their very own gamers of their supervisor’s well being problem instructed it may need been a minor downside and La Russa could be again rapidly. But USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale tweeted Wednesday afternoon that La Russa could be gone “indefinitely” — properly earlier than the Sox announcement.
Communication apparently isn’t a energy of this group.
So the season goes on, with or with out La Russa. The Sox want some form of increase, and perhaps this can do the trick.
Even if La Russa makes out the lineups through smartphone, it’s Cairo’s staff for now.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com