Tony La Russa

[jaws7575]

One of my all-time favorite sox teams is the 83 white  sox, makes me feel old. If it was not that goof messing up on the base path the sox would won and Hoyt pitching next game they win and are world series  bound ughhhhhhh.  I am one of Tony's fan . If this was ten years I would say yes. I have a lot of reservations if this is a real option. One he has not managed in 9 years-the game has changed. His age is my real concern  would he up with all the travel this year and beyond? This team has a good 5 year window and I do not want a lot of with the manager spot. My honest question is tony a viable option? My first pick I think is Hinch .My heart is with Tony but common sense says no.

[joejoesox]

yeah Tony LaRussa isn't what this team needs, let's move forwards not backwards

[Capital G]

I dont know enough about him currently. has he been following baseball closely? how is he when it comes to analytics? 

if he has evolved by following today's baseball then I would not hate the move. but if he is still stuck in 83 then i would not touch him. 

ideally we not only get a good manager but someone that can mentor jirschele (i want him brought up as bench coach). All I hope is that we dont already have our mind made up and that we take the time to interview people. i want us to look at managers from hinch to quartaro. do not just focus on big names. coaches that have been w/ solid organizations and have learned from solid managers.

[Thad Bosley]

Hard PASS on Mr. Tony LaRussa.

If the association with cheating and A.J. Hinch bothers you, consider the fact that LaRussa presided over the Oakland A’s in the late ‘80s and all of their roiders who bashed their way to their multiple championships.  The same thing repeated itself during his time with the Cardinals with McGuire in tow.  LaRussa was in the know about the abundance of steroid use happening on those teams, and obviously he was fine with it.  And I’m sure he has no regrets because today, he is a member of the Hall of Fame.

I know cheating has manifested itself in many different ways in baseball over the years, and perhaps it’s not right to be selective on when to frown on certain types of cheating.  But I don’t know, for me, I’d prefer to bypass candidates with this known association with cheating and just find someone else who doesn’t.  
 

That and any candidate like LaRussa who has found a way to piss off Hawk Harrelson, Harry Caray, and Jimmy Piersall along the way is no friend of mine!

Edited October 14, 2020 by Thad Bosley

[NWINFan]

1 hour ago, joesaiditstrue said:

yeah Tony LaRussa isn't what this team needs, let's move forwards not backwards

My sentiments exactly. The man has been out of baseball for a long time, is 76 years old, and I can't see him relating to the younger player. No LaRussa, No Guillen, in fact no one who has strong ties to the White Sox. Moving forward is right.

[he gone.]

My concerns would be how he relates and connects with young latin players. I understand he has his track record - and sometimes we act like managing is the hardest thing in the world, at the same time we sit on a message board and make our own lineups ... so the hypocrisy is rich, but LaRussa probably ain't it. I'd pass on him. 

Also the statcast angle -- if you managed 10 years ago v today ... wouldn't you be different. I thnk we can safely assume that he has changed with the times & sure the sox would make sure this true if they hire him. I don't think the Sox would hire someone who didn't have a detailed plan of how to approach this team.  

[Southwest Sider]

Didn't he basically retire from being a manager and get into some front office stuff anyway? 

[Tnetennba]

 

[jamesdiego]

4 hours ago, Thad Bosley said:

Hard PASS on Mr. Tony LaRussa.

If the association with cheating and A.J. Hinch bothers you, consider the fact that LaRussa presided over the Oakland A’s in the late ‘80s and all of their roiders who bashed their way to their multiple championships.  The same thing repeated itself during his time with the Cardinals with McGuire in tow.  LaRussa was in the know about the abundance of steroid use happening on those teams, and obviously he was fine with it.  And I’m sure he has no regrets because today, he is a member of the Hall of Fame.

I know cheating has manifested itself in many different ways in baseball over the years, and perhaps it’s not right to be selective on when to frown on certain types of cheating.  But I don’t know, for me, I’d prefer to bypass candidates with this known association with cheating and just find someone else who doesn’t.  
 

That and any candidate like LaRussa who has found a way to piss off Hawk Harrelson, Harry Caray, and Jimmy Piersall along the way is no friend of mine!

Hasn’t Hawks decision to fire LaRussa back in the day been largely panned as a terrible mistake by just about everyone?
Even by Hawk who I remember while announcing talking very fondly about LaRussa and speaking of his huge regret in firing him.  At least that is what I believe I remember him saying, I could be off some.  But it sounded like Hawk was calling himself an idiot over the decision.  

Its also Jerry’s biggest regret in allowing it to happen, according to him.  And did that decision help decides Hawks own firing?  
 

I could care less what caused Hawk to fire him back then, Hawk himself seems to agree. Though I agree with your overall assessment that LaRussa is not the right man for the job now.  

[Thad Bosley]

18 minutes ago, jamesdiego said:

Hasn’t Hawks decision to fire LaRussa back in the day been largely panned as a terrible mistake by just about everyone?
Even by Hawk who I remember while announcing talking very fondly about LaRussa and speaking of his huge regret in firing him.  At least that is what I believe I remember him saying, I could be off some.  But it sounded like Hawk was calling himself an idiot over the decision.  

Its also Jerry’s biggest regret in allowing it to happen, according to him.  And did that decision help decides Hawks own firing?  
 

I could care less what caused Hawk to fire him back then, Hawk himself seems to agree. Though I agree with your overall assessment that LaRussa is not the right man for the job now.  

Lol - I’m trying to be a good boy these days, so don’t tempt me with a quote from this owner that he thinks the firing of Tony LaRussa was his BIGGEST regret.  He has quite the laundry list of franchise-crushing decisions during his 40 years as owner that eclipse the firing of LaRussa decision, believe you me.

Anyhoo, when Reinsdorf/Einhorn brought on Hawk to be the GM back in the mid-80s, it was to try and grab some headlines away from the Cubs who, at that point in time, had become immensely popular with Harry Caray at the helm broadcasting all their games for free on WGN, while Sox games were buried on the failed pay TV option known as SportsVision.  
 

The Cubs also had a big personality as their GM in Dallas Green who was routinely on the media promoting the Cubs, while the Sox had the competent but not media savvy Roland Hemond as their GM.  Bringing on Hawk and his bravado was a way to counter Green and, as I said, compete for the headlines.  
 

So the cowboy hat-wearing Hawk comes in with his vision on how to do things, and he did make headlines.  They did achieve that objective.  However, the incumbent manager LaRussa and his pitching coach Dave Duncan weren’t buying into the ideas and approach he was bringing forth, and that’s where all the trouble started.  They publicly resisted, which gave the Sox no other choice but to can LaRussa, because optically they couldn’t fire Hawk three months into it, or else look like morons for hiring Hawk.

I think the passage of time made both Hawk and LaRussa realize both could have handled things better, which is why they eventually made peace with one another.  But it took a long time to get there.

[pcq]

Tony would be a great option but not at 76. I would go AJP over AJH and Joey Cora over Alex Cora. But that's just me. 

[michelangelosmonkey]

Maybe the plan is to bring in LaRussa with Jirschele as the bench coach to learn from the Zen master?  I mean it's not the stupidest idea.  I think LaRussa speaks Spanish and is good with the players, has lots of playoff experience and was always a pretty smart baseball manager.  I think they love Jirschel, he's young and smart, knows most of the players from the minors and is good with analytics.    They aren't ready to hand the keys to the Ferrari over to the kid with his learners permit but he shadows LaRussa for a year or two and then the Sox have their manager for the next decade. It also feels like a nicer story than bringing in Hinch...Reinsdorf gets his closure, LaRussa get a shot at a last hurrah where he had his first hurrah.   

[jaws7575]

not bad idea but I dont think thats what jerry had in mind

 

[joemg311]

I'm ok with Jerry hireing his buddy to try and win a world series in the next year or two as long as part of the plan/deal is that Jerry also ups the payroll by 100 million or so this off-season to help La Russa win it all ?

[ChiSox1917]

Only issue i have with it is his age.  If he was 10 years younger than hed be the best candidate

[JoshPR]

There gonna interview him. Lol he's a Fricken dinosaur

[ThirdGen]

LaRussa was a cutting edge manager, consistently ahead of his peers when it came down to use of statistical analysis.  In addition, he was always open to different methods of lineup construction and bullpen usage- far before anyone else was.  He caught a lot of hell from the old school throughout his career, but a lot of what he first tested became the norm.  He speaks Spanish, and was always known as a players' manager.

He is a Hall of Fame manager with 3 World Championships behind him, one 9 years ago.

Hinch won one World Series by cheating.

If, and this is a big if, LaRussa is still physically and mentally sound, and if he is still open to and in love with stats as he was when he started, the Sox could do a lot worse..  The combination of him and Jirschele in the dugout for the next couple of years, with Jirschele taking over after learning from LaRussa could leave the Sox set for a decade or more.

[jamesdiego]

7 hours ago, Thad Bosley said:

Lol - I’m trying to be a good boy these days, so don’t tempt me with a quote from this owner that he thinks the firing of Tony LaRussa was his BIGGEST regret.  He has quite the laundry list of franchise-crushing decisions during his 40 years as owner that eclipse the firing of LaRussa decision, believe you me.

Anyhoo, when Reinsdorf/Einhorn brought on Hawk to be the GM back in the mid-80s, it was to try and grab some headlines away from the Cubs who, at that point in time, had become immensely popular with Harry Caray at the helm broadcasting all their games for free on WGN, while Sox games were buried on the failed pay TV option known as SportsVision.  
 

The Cubs also had a big personality as their GM in Dallas Green who was routinely on the media promoting the Cubs, while the Sox had the competent but not media savvy Roland Hemond as their GM.  Bringing on Hawk and his bravado was a way to counter Green and, as I said, compete for the headlines.  
 

So the cowboy hat-wearing Hawk comes in with his vision on how to do things, and he did make headlines.  They did achieve that objective.  However, the incumbent manager LaRussa and his pitching coach Dave Duncan weren’t buying into the ideas and approach he was bringing forth, and that’s where all the trouble started.  They publicly resisted, which gave the Sox no other choice but to can LaRussa, because optically they couldn’t fire Hawk three months into it, or else look like morons for hiring Hawk.

I think the passage of time made both Hawk and LaRussa realize both could have handled things better, which is why they eventually made peace with one another.  But it took a long time to get there.

You’re preaching to the choir about Jerrys record, which I’ve never been afraid to criticize.  Though I’m happy and respect the job they did on the rebuild, and relieved/ very happy they have moved on from Renteria/ Cooper, so have no interest to complain about Jerry’s past failures (yes, there are many).  
 

I wasn’t around for the LaRussa days so I don’t know details or info from newspapers or radio back then.  But I’m fairly confident Jerry didn’t just make Hawk the GM to grab headlines.  He must’ve just been buying the bullshit Hawk was slinging about ideas on what he would do to run the franchise and make it better.  
 

You know, great ideas like Fisk in the outfield.  Lol

If LaRussa did resist Hawk brilliant ideas for change, the proper reasoning is not to then let Hawk fire him, but the correct reasoning looking back was to fire Hawk to prevent losing LaRussa.  
 

The Sox might’ve looked a little moronic like you said firing Hawk before LaRussa.  But the Sox looked far more moronic in letting their announcer/ faux GM to fire their manager to satisfy his ego, to just fire said faux GM months later.  
 

Both Jerry and Hawk seem to be in agreement that he had no business being in the front office and it was a mistake.  And Hawk regrets firing the hall of fame manager.  

So in my eyes there’s no point in defending Hawks moronic dislike for LaRussa in the late 80’s if Hawk himself has even evolved to fully realizing he was the idiot   

It is interesting wondering just how the Sox would have done with LaRussa at the helm long term.  Maybe they are able to push past the Jays in 93?  To bad we didn’t get a chance to see.  

[SCCWS]

12 hours ago, NWINFan said:

My sentiments exactly. The man has been out of baseball for a long time, is 76 years old, and I can't see him relating to the younger player. No LaRussa, No Guillen, in fact no one who has strong ties to the White Sox. Moving forward is right.

Actually you are wrong. Dave Dombrowski hired him as a special assistant 2 years ago to " serve as a consultant to the minor and major league coaching staffs, which included first-year manager Alex Cora. He was very involved in what turned out to be a Championship season. 

He certainly would not be a good managerial candidate but if Hahn goes w a first-year guy, LaRussa might have some value as a consultant. 

 

https://bosoxinjection.com/2018/09/26/red-sox-tony-larussa-asset-role/

[Chisoxfn]

49 minutes ago, ThirdGen said:

LaRussa was a cutting edge manager, consistently ahead of his peers when it came down to use of statistical analysis.  In addition, he was always open to different methods of lineup construction and bullpen usage- far before anyone else was.  He caught a lot of hell from the old school throughout his career, but a lot of what he first tested became the norm.  He speaks Spanish, and was always known as a players' manager.

He is a Hall of Fame manager with 3 World Championships behind him, one 9 years ago.

Hinch won one World Series by cheating.

If, and this is a big if, LaRussa is still physically and mentally sound, and if he is still open to and in love with stats as he was when he started, the Sox could do a lot worse..  The combination of him and Jirschele in the dugout for the next couple of years, with Jirschele taking over after learning from LaRussa could leave the Sox set for a decade or more.

Great post & welcome aboard. I agree with everything you state.  

[tray]

Hypothetically, do you think it would make more sense for JR to :

1. hire his 76 year old friend to be an every day  field Manager working under Hahn and KW,

or,

2. hire LaRussa to replace/fire Hahn and/or KW with authority to pick a new field Manager  and  reorganize the organization as he saw fit.

I'm asking.

 

[jaws7575]

The sox are finally thankfully in great shape for the most part, why would he fire Hann?  I think he wants to give his friend  a good shot at the brass ring.  Jerry is 84 so he thinks 76 is young. If they did La Russa  for a year or to teach a very good and upcoming young manager maybe I could live with that,  but I think I would rather go with HInch

[Dominikk85]

La russa actually was a pioneer in using data on field and very modern for his time. Also age doesn't mean you have to stop learning, Jerry Weinstein is like 77 and considered one of the most cutting edge catching coaches. 

However La russa hasn't managed in like 10 years so the question is how up to date is he and whether he is still willing to implement new stuff. 

I definitely would prefer a younger manager who has managed in the last 2 years. 

[Dick Allen]

LaRussa hired a 66 year old ex veterinarian and stock trader and White Sox fan who he met when looking for an apartment when he managed the White Sox, to run the analytics department in AZ when he ran the DBacks.

Granted, if he was managing the team in 2020 and the Sox were facing Barrios, I am sure McCann would have been in the line up at least once, but Tony isn’t exactly married to advanced metrics.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Dick Allen

[jamesdiego]

1 hour ago, Dick Allen said:

LaRussa hired a 66 year old ex veterinarian and stock trader and White Sox fan who he met when looking for an apartment when he managed the White Sox, to run the analytics department in AZ when he ran the DBacks.

Granted, if he was managing the team in 2020 and the Sox were facing Barrios, I am sure McCann would have been in the line up at least once, but Tony isn’t exactly married to advanced metrics.

That sounds like an amazing story with the veterinarian.  Was the vet doc already involved in baseball and working for LaRussa for awhile before running his analytics department?  
 

“I gotta guy who used to work with stocks and good with those numbers, lemme give him a call”