After the shortened 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago White Sox decided to move on from former manager Rick Renteria. With a young and talented roster, the team needed to make a splash not only in free agency, but also who would be the next manager. 

The White Sox decided to make a reunion with former World Series Champion manager Tony La Russa coming out of retirement and becoming the new manager for the team. La Russa had last been a manager after the championship run of the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2011 championship run. Many fans expected him to bring another championship but that never happened. Now however, Chicago will begin the offseason by finding a new face to lead the team. 

The White Sox announced on Oct. 3 that La Russa would be stepping down as the team’s manager. He cited health reasons, as to why he decided to step down. The White Sox finished the season at 81-81, and this is one of the many difficult questions the team will have to answer this off-season. 

Many have wondered what happened with such a talented roster and a Hall of Fame manager at the helm. They would come together and become one of the best teams in the American League. Many saw flashes of that potential during the 2021 season as the White Sox went 93-69, but lost in four games to the Houston Astros in the American League Divisional Round. 

Many fans are disappointed at the result of the season and are looking to see what happens next year with the off-season looming. Vinnie Dunbar a host for CHGO White Sox podcast, explained the plan for bringing in La Russa. 

“He was brought in to lead the team to a championship,” Dunbar said. “He was unable to do that and was blunt in his retirement press conference ‘I didn’t do the job I was hired to do.’” 

Professor Fred Mitchell, an adjunct faculty professor for digital communication and media arts, journalism and sports communication, noticed many different factors that led to the White Sox disappointing season. 

“The White Sox experienced a very disappointing season due in large part to poor execution of fundamental baseball,” Mitchell said. “Injuries to key players didn’t help, but every team must learn to overcome that in order to become a champion.”

Before he even managed a game for the White Sox, many asked how he would be able to lead a team when he has been out of the game for almost a decade. How would he be able to take over the clubhouse? Dunbar talked about these assumptions, but La Russa was able to find a way to lead the team to a division championship in his first season back. 

“Many were saying he wouldn’t be able to connect with today’s players,” Dunbar said. “But all the guys in the clubhouse all discussed their respect and love for him.”

Many will ask what had gone wrong during the time with La Russa at the helm. Many fans said much of the blame for the unsuccess on the field was because of him, but many of the older generations remember the success that he had before his second stint with the White Sox. 

Trey Weston, who grew up in St. Louis grew up watching La Russa lead  the St. Louis Cardinals to World Series championship teams in 2006 and 2011, knows how much the game had changed since those days of his success. 

“The game of baseball has changed a lot since he last managed back in 2011,” Weston said. “The extra innings rule with the pitcher was just one example of the rule changes.”

Another aspect of the game of baseball that has become a major part of the game is the use of analytics. Many are looking at the different stats players have for certain situations. Some examples include, pulling a hitter who had just gotten into scoring position on an extra base hit and bringing in a faster player to make it easier to bring the runner in on another base hit. Many managers would rather not remove the hitter from the lineup when he coached in the 2000s and early 2010s. Weston and other fans also see how much the game has changed and many of the older veteran managers had a hard time adjusting to what they had done in the past. 

“The whole game has become analytical,” Weston said. “Even playing situational baseball has changed tremendously.” 

Dunbar also has seen the way the game has changed for many of the older managers. He was able to see what White Sox fans saw this season. 

“Some of his in-game decision making was obviously not successful,” Dunbar said. “Making the moves he did in the past maybe didn’t quite match up well with the way the game is played today.”

Even Mitchell spoke about how much the game has changed too, but mentioned some fundamentals of the game will never change. 

“The basic tenets such as hitting the cut-off man, taking the extra base, moving the runner along by hitting to the opposite field, those fundamentals never change,” Mitchell said.

With the results of these past two seasons of the career of La Russa. Many of the younger fans will remember these seasons, but older fans and those who look at the past will put these two seasons behind his Hall of Fame career. Many will know him as one of the greatest to ever manage the game of baseball. 

“He remains what he was when he took the job back in 2020: a deserving Hall of Famer,” said Dunbar. 

Mitchell, who covered La Russa during his time in Chicago, St. Louis and Oakland, also agrees that these last two seasons will not affect what he has done for the game of baseball. 

Weston will always remember La Russa for bringing two championship titles to the city of St. Louis during his time there.

“I will remember La Russa as a beacon of light for St. Louis,” Weston said. “Bringing those championships to St. Louis helped bring the community together through the Cardinals success.