tony-la-russa Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Go ahead Jerry Reinsdorf, make everyone’s day
As has often been stated on these pages, Jerry Reinsdorf hates Chicago White Sox fans. And White Sox fans hate him. That’s the only fundamental anyone has to understand to get what’s going on the Southside. Or in this case, Nashville (insert Steve Harvey voice, “Takin’ his punk ass to Nashville…”)...

Jerry Reinsdorf has McConnell’d half of Chicago
I and many other Chicagoans used to sit in our simple Midwestern homes, huddled by the coal stove or whatever people picture us doing in the winter (it’s not that far off, it’s just huddled at the bar), and have a good chuckle at how New Yorkers were sentenced to a life with James Dolan. Here was a ...

Jerry Reinsdorf emerged from his crypt long enough to fire White Sox GM, VP
Not to turn this morning wake-up companion into Chicago White Sox Daily, but it’s a slow time of year. We’ll get through this together, I promise. ...

Kenyan Middleton told his truth about the White Sox, and suddenly his name was off the scoreboard
Keynan Middleton gave his opinion about his time with the Chicago White Sox. He told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers that he felt the organization lacked discipline and personal accountability. His stories about players napping in the dugout and missing practice sessions were corroborated by teammates. Now a me...

You have to marvel at the wretchedness of the Chicago White Sox
There are certainly a host of disappointing teams in MLB this year. More so than usual it feels like, with the Mets, Padres, and Cardinals face down in a muck they never considered being in back in the spring. You can throw the Mariners on there if you’re feeling truly dispirited and want to take it...

8 Cy Young winners taking the mound on MLB Opening Day
It’s the most wonderful day of the year for baseball fans. Well, it’s one of them I guess — Opening Day! After the World Baseball Classic, the real fun begins, right Keith Olbermann? All 30 teams will have 161 games to go in the regular season after Thursday, with eight former Cy Young winners throw...

How much difference can it make to have a manager who is awake?
How much tangible difference a manager makes on a baseball team over 162 games has never been quite nailed down. It’s generally thought the best ones might only add a couple wins, and a truly bad one might only take away a couple wins. Most are just there, which is kind of why front offices stopped ...

The White Sox want you to know they’re just dumb, not evil
One of MLB’s biggest problems, and it spreads to other leagues as well, is the amount of buck-passing that seems to take place when there’s a serious issue. Whenever there’s someone like Mike Clevinger being investigated for domestic abuse or something else awful, a team is waiting for the league to...

If only Mike Clevinger had a plate in his leg
It should be said at the top that it’s not clear that there’s too much the Chicago White Sox could have done before signing Mike Clevinger. It’s easy to say that they should have known, and maybe if a team was really looking for reasons to not sign someone they could have found the investigation by ...

Sports is sometimes disheartening as a profit-margin-focused enterprise, but it does produce some great stories
Yes, sports is like all other major American industries — run by a handful of people who made out like bandits in this economic system of great wealth disparity. Because they have accumulated such vast wealth, they believe that is a sign of intelligence and that hubris frequently leads to poor decis...

If ya can't beat 'em, hire 'em
If you can’t beat ‘em, hire the manager that beat you. Yeah! That’s the phrase. At least it is for the Texas Rangers, who successfully courted Bruce Bochy out of three-year retirement to become their new manager. Bochy is best known to Texas as the mafioso who picked them apart in the 2010 World Ser...

Tony La Russa is done in Chicago
After two seasons at the helm of the Chicago White Sox, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa stepped down Monday due to health concerns. La Russa had one year left on his three-year contract....

Tony La Russa was every bit the human gallstone you thought he was
It could end up being the pacemaker that saved Chicago, going down in history along with other objects we revere like a lamp next to a cow, disco records, and all the dirt we moved to reverse the flow of the Chicago River to send our shit to St. Louis (where it belongs and they deserve) to name a fe...

The DH could solidify the Dodgers’ transformation into the First Order
The perception of the National League to fans of AL teams is that of inferior baseball, due largely to the (until recently) absence of the designated hitter. This kind of bias happens in other sports, but it’s mostly unproven generalizations like the Western Conference is finesse basketball compared...

Old man needs nap
Y’know, the White Sox do a lot of stupid shit, and we all have jokes at the ready for just about any eventuality. After all, they’ve been run like this for decades, so we’ve had a lot of practice. So almost two years ago when they hired a drunk septuagenarian with only a loose handle on his surround...

Tony La Russa got the Matt Nagy treatment on Saturday, but at least he’ll only hear it at his home ballpark
Fortunately, for Tony La Russa, the chants for his firing won’t follow him everywhere around Chicago. Even if the Chicago Bulls were playing in the NBA Finals right now, there likely wouldn’t be enough White Sox fans at the game for the chant to ring out enough for a viral moment. Also, La Russa’s k...

Jerry Reinsdorf is holding White Sox fans hostage
I have tried to explain the weirdness that encompasses, and in some way constitutes, the Chicago White Sox. They are a unique entity, both on the field and off, and in the stands and on the airwaves and in the bars....

So when is it Tony La Russa’s turn?
With the firings of Joe Girardi and Joe Maddon just in the past week, MLB teams have shown that they’re willing to drop even the most accomplished managers early in their tenure if they don’t meet lofty expectations. So it begs the question, how much longer can the White Sox struggle before it’s con...

Don’t support Gabe Kapler’s protest during the national anthem if you took issue with Colin Kaepernick’s
Six years ago, a Black football player decided he wasn’t going to stand during the national anthem because America wasn’t holding up its end of the bargain when it came to protecting the people he cared about. The country lost it, and he lost his job. Six years later, a white baseball manager has de...