Of course, at least I hope it’s “of course” that you wish Tony La Russa well, from a medical standpoint. Whatever your feelings are about the on the field performance of your 2022 Chicago White Sox, you never wish bad health upon someone.
I genuinely hope Tony La Russa is physically and mentally okay. While I do think his second stint as Sox manager has been a total disaster, and I thought his rehire was a horrible decision from the get go, I wish him the absolute best of health. Not to mention his worldviews, if you could call them that, are the polar opposite of mine. I still hope he gets good news regarding his medical tests. That said, he needs to be replaced as White Sox manager ASAP.
You can hold both thoughts in your head at the same time. Both things can be true.
Heading into Wednesday night’s action, the Sox are three games under .500, six out of first in the AL Central and 7.5 back in the AL Wild Card race. According to the odds at Betway, they are still favored at home against the hapless Kansas City Royals. The Southsiders are backed -141 on the money line, a shift from an opening ML of -136. The money line shifted from +120 to +115 on the lowly, pathetic Royals, who have actually beaten the Pale Hose pretty well this season, holding a 10-7 advantage on them for 2022 thus far.
Still 61% of the bets and 72% of the handle is going all in on the men of Tony La Russa. Last year, the Sox finished 93-69 and won the AL Central division.
Returning the nucleus for the most part, and on paper expected to contend for not just the division, but also the pennant, this season has been one of the biggest disappointments in recent memory.
“I just get angry,” said Tony La Russa, reflecting on this season which fell well short of expectations, while not doing nearly enough to try and fix it.
“I don’t like frustration, discouragement. That’s loser crap. Just seeps energy out of your body. I just get angry and want to do something about it.”
If only he knew someone who could do something about it.
If only Tony La Russa had access to somebody in charge of better motivating the team coached by Tony La Russa.
This time spent most of the first half under .500, and they have spent the entire season in mediocrity, hovering around that .500 mark. It’s September now, and this is who they are. The high water mark came on Aug. 16 when they were 61-56, just two games out of first. Then they went 2-10 and effectively ended their season for all intents and purposes.
It’s garbage time now and a lot of White Sox fans have been vocal about wanting Jerry Reinsdorf to sell the team. An even higher percentage of the fan base apparently want GM Rick Hahn sacked.
And a seemingly overwhelming majority, at least the loudest contingent, wants no more TLR.
So how will it go down? Are these medical issues a front? We don’t know, due to privacy concerns and that is the way it should be. A person’s individual health records are their business, but we can obviously speculate a bit here. It all does have an Urban Meyer when he resigns kind of feel. You know, when Meyer did the “heart issues” routine.
Only those on the inside know for sure, and if we’re wrong, then we’re wrong, but it’s easy to draw a straight line here. Don’t put it past the White Sox, hypothetically, to allow Tony La Russa to resign, due to health concerns, and thus not further tarnish his legacy.
No matter what happens, too much of this golden window, a period in club history where the assembly of talent is deep and vast, has gone utterly wasted. They need to move on from La Russa in order to maximize something from it. The club has still only won 2 playoff games, and no postseason series since 2005.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.