Sorta the baseball equivalent of the old aphorism that
Some folks brighten a group by entering; others by leaving.
Small changes to the ball can have a huge impact.
One of the reason people didn’t like LaRussa as the pick to manage the White Sox was that they had a lot of real good young players and were ready to break through and be contenders. The argument was that the old-timer wouldn’t be able to relate to the kids. So, the White Sox being successful isn’t too surprising. Not sure how much is because of LaRussa, but he sure hasn’t hurt the team (yet).
I don’t believe they give out rings for being on top of the AL Central in May.
If the Sox were a veteran team that had already contended for a title or two, I’d more inclined to accept the argument that La Russa’s just inheriting a good team. Going 35-25 last year and having young talent doesn’t mean shit. They’ve accomplished absolutely nothing.
That remains true today.
Maybe you could give a few examples of these Amazing Swami-like maneuvers that TLR has pulled off this year that have contributed to unusual and unlikely wins this season.
Look at the standings.
So no, you can’t. Otherwise you would have been in here 2 weeks ago saying that Mike Matheny had a Third Eye as he navigated the Royals to the best record in baseball at the time. But you can’t even come up with ONE situation that LaRussa rallied the boys to beat the odds? Huh.
The talking heads have been saying the White Sox were the best team in the division since the end of the World Series last year, back when they didn’t even HAVE a manager. It sounds like you weren’t aware of that, since the Sox having a strong roster is news to you, as is the fact that their division is pathetic.
But okay - I’ll look at the standings. Oh look - they’re expected to have won 3 more games than they have. They’re actually UNDERperforming.
No I wouldn’t have said that about Matheny, because I’m a Cardinals fan and I’ve seen both Matheny and La Russa manage. Matheny is an example of someone who inherited a team that had already been successful and basically managed themselves. The Chicago White Sox in 2021 are not the St Louis Cardinals of 2012-14.
But but…the standings!
Yes, the standings. Don’t just look at what La Russa does or doesn’t do in innings 8-9; consider the fact that he is a stickler for preparation. A lot of the so-called ‘innovations’ of today’s game - double-switching, pitching changes for one or two batters, using the bullpen in the 4th or 5th innings to compensate for weak starting pitching…La Russa was doing that probably 10-20 years ago - in some cases 30 years ago.
La Russa’s main innovations to baseball are getting juiced up players and looking the other way.
I’m not arguing LaRussa wasn’t a good manager - I’m arguing he’s currently not one, as evidenced by his players publicly going to social media making fun of him. Maybe that’s his long game? He’s oblivious to the new rules of the current game, and is stuck trying to enforce the unwritten ones. His time is gone, and he has nothing to show for making a positive impact on his current team.
I’ll put it this way: in any profession, if you have players who’ve never won a title, never accomplished shit, taking to social media to make fun of a manager who’s achieved the pinnacle of the profession several times with more than one team, who’s got the credibility: the fuckers who’ve never accomplished shit, or the guy wearing the hardware on his fingers? And, oh by the way, has that team sitting in a position in the standings they’ve not been in, in more than a decade.
Seems pretty fucking obvious to me who has the credibility here.
Larry Francona, too, for that matter.
Is he the brother of Curly and Mo Francona?
Pffff. Yep, you got me. I meant Terry.
Okay, I will bow my head so you can smack the back of it.
So what is La Russa being given credit for here?
Being in first place at this point in the season, which if I recall correctly, has not happened since…2008 maybe?
That was my question.
They went .583 in 60 games last year without La Russa. They’re currently .619 with him, in 42 games, this year. That’s basically a difference of about 1.5 wins over 50 games.
But apparently last year’s performance means shit, while this year’s performance is the product of a managing genius.
Well, except for last year, when their record after 42 games was–let me check–EXACTLY the same as it is this year: 26-16.
And they were in first place.