Chicago Sports Exchange: Some Hiccups Aside, La Russa’s Leading White Sox As Only Few Could
Cubs at trade deadline crossroads, Red Stars reach new height
I don’t know who needs — or even wants — to hear this, but Tony La Russa is the American League manager of the year.
Say what you will about TLR slipping off his gold retirement watch to slide into the dugout of a rising contender, but his ball club has the third-best winning percentage in the majors. More than a week’s worth of games separate the White Sox from the rest of the AL Central and they haven’t played a single inning with their fully-imagined roster yet.
Every South Side tendon, pec, hamstring, and hip flexor that’s already been pushed past its limit threatened to form the through-line to a White Sox season that just reached its halfway mark.
And yet, on the strength of a seemingly unlimited wealth of resilience (half of the starting lineup is on the injured list), the eighth stingiest pitching rotation in baseball (a group that includes the franchise’s first quartet of pitchers to stockpile 100 strikeouts each before the Midsummer Classic) and La Russa getting a handle on a roster many people (myself included) feared the 76-year-old would be too out of touch with, here they are 19 games above .500 with the ALs best record.
Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, Brian Goodwin, Danny Mendick, Billy Hamilton, and the eighth wonder of the world that was (and hopefully, someday soon, will again be), Yermín Mercedes, all deserve several pats on the back. These were not the guys Sports Illustrated would have predicted to carry the load to a division championship prior to the season, but hey (they also had the Twins finishing only two games behind the Sox and that’s not looking like an on-point prediction right now…)
And, as La Russa’s taken measure of a fluctuating pool of players at his disposal, the four-time manager of the year has earned another moment in the sun, too.
This isn’t to say he hasn’t made waves.
He unnecessarily put Liam Hendriks in harms way — and the Sox at a disadvantage —because he was unaware of the extra-innings rule that could’ve kept his $54 million closer off the base path in a one-run loss to Cincinnati in May.
Less than two weeks later, he laid into Mercedes—while simultaneously falling over himself to defend baseball’s unwritten rules—after the 28-year-old rookie missed a take sign and knocked a position player’s 3-0 pitch into the stands at Target Field, in a game that begged for a mercy rule.
‘Inspired’ manager Tony La Russa guides White Sox to 54-35 record going into break (Sun-Times)
That last rub, in particular, seemed certain to drive an impenetrable wedge between the Hall-of-Fame skipper and his clubhouse as it became fuel for the roaring debate over the game’s code of ethics. La Russa, a tried-and-true traditionalist who greets bat flips like nails on a chalkboard and, last year, took exception to San Diego Padres hotshot Fernando Tatís Jr. essentially doing the same thing Mercedes did, held firm to his idea of what sportsmanship should look like. Meanwhile, everyone from Mercedes’ All-Star teammates Tim Anderson and Lance Lynn to Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants starting pitchers Trevor Bauer and Alex Wood, came out in support of Mercedes and running through the tape.
But to everyone’s credit, what could’ve boiled over simply blew over instead.
“I’ve talked to the guys, and they say it’s great to play for [La Russa],” said Eloy Jiménez, who hit a two-run homer in the first game of his rehab stint with Class-A Winston-Salem, to reporters Thursday in North Carolina.
“I’m excited. I can’t wait to play for him.”
That’s as good an indication as any of how well things are going for La Russa and his White Sox in comparison to how controversially they started.
Whether or not the season ends with an on-field celebration, the three-time World Series champion manager is headed for more hardware.
SELL — Cubs Stuck In Free Fall After Teeter-Tottering First Half
When it rains it pours.
Fitting then that as the Cubs have taken on two weeks worth of water, their rubber match with St. Louis was postponed due to inclement weather Sunday.
Worse than falling eight games behind Milwaukee in the race for the National League Central after losing 13 of their last 15 contests, is not having the chance to take the bite out of Willson Contreras’ comments until Friday.
Now questions about who might be put up for sale before the trade deadline and the team’s effort will linger into the All-Star break.
BUY — Red Stars Earn Second Straight Win Thanks To Dash’s Mistakes
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good—or, in the Red Stars’ case, accurate.
Without firing a single shot on target, the Red Stars (4-4-2) scored their first consecutive victory of the season, 2-1, thanks to a pair of Houston Dash own goals Sunday.
As could be expected, head coach Rory Dames balked at the idea of the win being a fluke. He instead credited his team for putting Dash defenders in vulnerable positions.
Either way the Red Stars are now just two points from the top of the National Women’s Soccer League standings with a date against the ninth-place OL Reign Sunday.