Color me completely unsurprised. In fact, I said to my White Sox friend the day after he was gone (I was at the game he didn’t show up to unexpectedly; they lost that one) to watch the Sox now go on a tear. While I wouldn’t define it quite as a “tear” and they just lost two of their last three, they’re still in the hunt and have been playing comfortably over 500. (Yeah, I know, it’s a small sample size and hard to really extrapolate anything meaningful from it.) I just don’t get what the organization sees in him. This team should have performed much better over this season.
I suspect that part of it is a friendship between La Russa and Reinsdorf, dating back to when La Russa was the Sox’ manager in the 1980s; apparently, Reinsdorf regretted having La Russa fired in 1986.
I also imagine that they may have thought that bringing him back might have appealed to fans, and helped to drive some additional attendance, as well as having an experienced manager take over a promising young team.
To be fair, they did make the playoffs last year, but on the other hand, there’s the suspicion that they did so in spite of La Russa, not because of him.
My mom and step-dad are and were big tennis fans. My vague recollection as a kid in the 70s when the tech was first introduced is that the players and fans didn’t like it at first. It’ll take some time for baseball too.
The Rays put together a starting lineup today where all 9 hitters are Latino for the first time in MLB history. What a great way to celebrate Roberto Clemente Day.
Yes…“suspicion”. Count me in that bucket.
You can argue with an ump. You can’t argue with a radar tracker.
Can you though?
You can, but it’s usually not a good idea. 
You can also blame them for bad calls.
Sports headline from 2050:
“AI manager ejected from game for throwing virtual dirt at radar tracker”
Electro-magnetic interference would do the trick probably.
I’ve watched baseball on TV all my life, and I’m almost 70. I know the replay mechanisms are much better than years past, as is the high-def TV, but I cannot remember seeing this many terrible strike/ball calls.
Anyone watching on Sling? I do not have cable now and with Shentel it would $140 a month to get FOX, FS1 and TBS. Sling is $35 and a DVR is included for a month. Can you record games and start from the beginning? If so can you FF while the game is on, or do you have to wait until the end?
It used to be worse. WAY worse. If you can find the time, watch a youtube video of an old playoff game. It’s stunning how bad some of the home plate umpiring is. Every ump has their own strike zone, and they aren’t even consistent in that.
Obviously, the Erig Gregg game in 1997 is the nadir of playoff umping, but umping definitely changed the direction of other playoff games.
“If you know me, you know my strike zone”
- Eric Gregg
Doesn’t look like FOX is available in southwest Virginia on Sling. But Hulu+ Live TV has it, so the same questions
Me, too. LOL
First base should be the easiest umpiring station. All he has to do is watch the runner’s foot come down toward the bag and listen to the slap of the ball being caught by the first baseman. Whichever comes first wins the call. How in the world do you miss THREE calls there in one game?
He made a ridiculous call in a Mets game the other day in the game’s first AB. Ron Darling wondered if the over/under was 90 secconds or less. He could not directly name him, well I guess he could have, but would have gotten into trouble.
Haven’t heard much lately about uneasiness among MLB teams potentially facing the Blue Jays in the playoffs, due to the prospect of unvaccinated players being denied entry to Canada. The New York Post currently has a story about multiple “star” players on the Mets being unvaccinated, which would keep them out of a World Series north of the border if both teams made it that far.
Covid-19 vaccination is not something that can be put off until the last minute. Even if recalcitrant players were to get the single dose J&J vaccine, my understanding is that Canada would only allow them in if at least 14 days had elapsed after they were vaccinated, to allow time for buildup of immunity.
So, how does he still have a job after all of these years of poor performance? Is their union that strong?
It sure seems to be.