White Sox attempt at retro a faux pas
One bit of advice to any team searching for a manager: Don’t hire a guy who began his career the same season as “Disco Demolition Night.”
Especially if you’ve got a team with swag. A team that is magnificently diverse. A team that isn’t afraid to speak its mind or challenge the game’s silly, outdated traditions.
In a move that only makes sense if they plan to hold Throwback Night all season long, the Chicago White Sox resurrected Hall of Famer Tony La Russa from the retirement home to take over a budding powerhouse that made the playoffs for the first time in a dozen years.
We can’t wait to see the 76-yearold La Russa’s reaction the first time Tim Anderson launches one of his epic bat flips.
We’re guessing it won’t be long before La Russa is screaming, “Get off my infield, you crazy kids!”
How baffling was this hiring? Let us count the ways.
■ La Russa last ran a team from the dugout in 2011. He will be the third-oldest manager in baseball history and, judging from some very middling stints in several front offices, is completely out of a touch with the modern game.
■ The White Sox have a core of young players on team-friendly deals, including Anderson, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. Jose Abreu is one of the front-runners for AL MVP. Lucas Giolito pitched a no-hitter. This is a group that cries out for youthful, relatable leadership.
■ General Manager Kenny Williams spoke out eloquently this year on social-justice protests that roiled the nation and the burden of being a Black man in America. It’s hard to believe that Williams — one of just two Blacks in charge of baseball departments this past season (the other, Michael Hill, has since parted ways with Miami) — looked around at the field of qualified candidates — especially those of color — and signed off on recycling the old boys club. This is yet another reminder of how hard it is for minorities to make managerial inroads in baseball and nearly every other sport.
La Russa once was one of the brightest young minds in baseball, but that was 1979. Jimmy Carter was the president. “Three’s Company” was all the rage in prime time. And the White Sox, trying to do their part to stamp out the scourge of disco, blew up their own field and sparked a riot.
Less than a month after “Disco Demolition Night,” the White Sox fired playing manager Don Kessinger (Forrest City) and promoted La Russa to the lead spot in the dugout, making him the game’s youngest skipper at age 34. The rest, as they say, is history. Or at least it should’ve been.
La Russa was certainly ahead of his time in many ways. In Oakland, he made Dennis Eckersley a one-inning closer. Hundreds of times, he wrote out a lineup that had the pitcher batting eighth. He was a master of getting the best pitcher-batter matchup.
But — and this certainly doesn’t bode well in his new job — La Russa ridiculed the concept of “Moneyball” and its emphasis on statistics and analytics over human scouting and observation. He also largely received a pass for earning many of his wins with the help of admitted steroid users Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.
More troubling, La Russa made it clear he’s not a fan or social-justice movements such as the one sparked by Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem.
“You’re not going to be out there representing our team and our organization by disrespecting the flag,” La Russa said in 2016. “No, sir, I would not allow it.”
The White Sox had several players kneel this past season, including Anderson, Abreu and Giolito.
La Russa was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Not surprisingly, those who are charged with immortalizing the game’s greats were caught off guard by his return to managing.
La Russa seemingly called it a career after a thrilling World Series victory in 2011. He retired as the third-winningest manager in baseball history.
“This just feels like it’s time to end it,” La Russa said at the time. “When I look in the mirror, I know I’d come back for the wrong reasons, and I didn’t want to do that.” Well, he’s doing it now.
For all the wrong reasons.