Chicago On Thursday, the Chicago White Sox shocked the baseball community by naming Tony La Russa as their new manager.
With La Russa back, the franchise has a taste of nostalgia as he guided the Sox to a division title in 1983.
In an unexpected comeback to the organization, the Hall of Famer plans to do it all over again.
“This opportunity with the White Sox brings together a number of important factors that make this the right time and the right place,” La Russa said in a statement. “While I have had other inquiries about managing since retiring,” the player said. “The team has incredible on-field talent, and Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn at the front office have done everything they can to foster a culture of long-term success. Everything came together to make this an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started by hiring a coaching staff and starting to work.
The last time La Russa, 76, managed was in 2011, the year the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. As manager of the Oakland Athletics (1989) and the Cardinals (2006, 2011), he was the winner of three World Series.
The White Sox chairman, Jerry Reinsdorf, released a statement saying, “As everyone in baseball is well aware, I have always respected Tony and am proud to have maintained a great friendship with him over the decades in the game.” But we have the chance to have one of the best managers in the history of the game in our dugout at a moment when we think our club is ready for big things, so that’s why we hired him—not because we’re buddies or because of anything that happened years ago.
Rick Renteria, who guided the Sox to their first postseason trip since 2008, is replaced by La Russa.
Less than two weeks after the Sox lost a best-of-three American League wild-card series to the A’s in three games, the Sox and Renteria called it quits on October 12.
La Russa ranks third all-time in managing victories with a career record of 2,728-2,365 over 33 seasons. 2014 saw his induction into the Hall of Fame.
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