This week’s SSM has it all; mystery absences, crumbling baseball teams, and pro-am basketball.
The GOAT of quarterbacks, Mr. Tom Brady Has been away for some time now, kind of seems shady Assuming everyone is fine, the best theory has come That he’s been filming Masked Singer, if true how great and dumb
Speaking of TB12, what could’ve been in Vegas Apparently the deal was done, not much more to discuss Jon Gruden nixed a package deal for Gronk and the QB Would’ve had two more Super Bowls by now, maybe three
Whose fans feel the worst right now, the White Sox or Yankees Yanks can’t win a game, La Russa’s brain is filled with bees New York is at least still leading a tough AL East Every day Chicago’s playoff chances just decrease
Pro-am basketball has become a hit this summer The latest was The Crawsover, event was not a bummer LeBron, Tatum, Holmgren, the lineup was real deep A cool environment to get to see the big boys leap
We’ve got our first pink slip handed out in MLB The Angles fired Joe Maddon during a losing spree The Halos started strong this year, formerly first place Twelve straight losses gets you canned, an unfortunate case
Another manager made waves, and not the calming kind Tony La Russa made a move and seemed to lose his mind Gave Trea Turner a free base, the count was 1-2 Any way you look at it, that call really blew
The NBA Finals are tight, all tied at two a piece Both teams are two wins away from making the series cease Steph Curry’s a monster, but we all knew that He’s all the Warriors have, rest of the team’s been flat
The battle for Lord Stanley is now set in stone Lightning and the Avalanche for the hockey throne Tampa Bay will go for their third straight championship Colorado’s young, could be champs in their first trip
The Chicago White Sox are one of the most young, exciting teams in baseball. They have a treasure trove of young talent not only on the major league roster, but still coming up through their farm system. The South Siders made the playoffs this year for the first time since 2008, but were eliminated in the first round by the Athletics.
Due to “differences of opinion” regarding analytics and strategy in general, the team relieved manager Rick Rentería of his duties after the season. In doing so, the Sox created for themselves a great opportunity to sign a dynamic, exciting manager to take this young group with an enormous skillset and lead them to a championship, right?
WRONG.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your new manager of The Chicago White Sox….
Tony La Russa: seventy-six year old, hasn’t managed since 2011, Tony La Russa.
As you’ll notice in the picture above, the man is a Hall of Famer, a fact you can’t deny. However, isn’t that a reason not to hire him? His last managing gig with the Cardinals ended when he retired nine years ago. Per Baseball Reference, La Russa holds a career record of 2,728-2,365 in 35 years of managing the White Sox (for the first time), Athletics, and Cardinals. He last managed the White Sox in 1986. One of the White Sox’s best players, Luis Robert, was born 11 years after, in 1997.
The White Sox roster is full of young, lively talent. Tony La Russa is a baseball dinosaur who has been in the sport since 1963, when he made his playing debut with Oakland. This enormous age gap can cause major issues. How does a man capture the attention and respect of a group of studs 50 years his minor? I just don’t see it.
Now, with as loaded of a roster as the White Sox have put together, this could very well work out. At some point, the manager of a baseball team simply cannot lose if he’s given the right combination and talent and potential. If you’re a White Sox fan, you can only hope your new geriatric leader lets his guys be themselves and take the next step that they clearly have enough talent to take.
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