If the White Sox could have hired a manager all over again, they still probably would have done most things the same, because Jerry Reinsdorf's peculiar brand of loyalty often makes life harder for people to whom he should be equally or more loyal (e.g. active employees and fans).
Assume that Tony La Russa is still managing the team no matter what, and that the news of his DUI unfolds the same way. The White Sox still left room for revision.
Take La Russa's introductory Zoom conference, where you wouldn't have known that he was assuming the leadership of one of baseball's young, exciting rosters, because he failed to mention a single young, exciting player. The only White Sox he mentioned from this century was Harold Baines, although La Russa probably pictured the version with hair from the early 1980s.
That he wasn't conversant about the current roster paired poorly with his lack of conversations with current players, because most of his other musings about today's game all seemed out of sociopolitical step. Include the attempts by Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams to avoid personal ownership of the decision, and the Sox provided plenty of fault lines for those wondering how it might all fall apart.
But if you gave his Hall of Fame track record even a little credit, then La Russa wasn't going to blow up a tight-knit and productive clubhouse immediately upon entering it, even if some players might not fit the La Russa mold based on previous words and actions.
Sure enough, La Russa admitted nerves about addressing the team on the first full day of spring training, which indicates a respect for what he's inheriting.
To prove his point that he’s always on edge, La Russa pulled a note card for his first speech as Sox manager from his pocket while doing a news conference after the workout. It was a work that had been in the works for some time.
“It may sound a little theatrical, but a couple of days after I was named manager [in November], my head and my heart were full of thoughts, and I made notes and notes,” La Russa said.
And sure enough, whatever reservations Tim Anderson harbored upon the hiring of La Russa seem to have dissipated after the first couple days of personal interactions.
“I got to know him more as a person and more so even than the manager part,” Anderson said. “But yeah, just to see what page he’s on is definitely awesome. Just have conversations with him, very motivating. The drive to want to win, he has that. I’m behind him 110 percent. That’s the ultimate goal is to win and to win a World Series here. I’m behind him.” [...]
Anderson claims to feel no hesitation about bringing any issues to La Russa. Part of that may have been developed in their conversation. Part of that might just be Anderson.
“I can talk to him,” Anderson said. “I can tell him anything I want to. I ain’t afraid of him. Tell him that (laughs).”
The Sox may have committed one unforced error after another in the rolling out of their new manager, including but not limited to leaving A.J. Hinch's signature on the social media graphic introducing La Russa. Yet now that baseball season is actually here, La Russa has provided the sense that he knows enough about his job -- including knowing what he doesn't know about his job -- to make it relatively smooth sailing, at least through the remainder of spring training.
The regular season will pose its own complications, but while Anderson and Lucas Giolito have been easy points of reference for potential conflicts, I suspect that any tensions will manifest themselves in less likely or less outward-facing places. That presupposes that any unusual conflicts will arise at all, which also might be faulty, but when La Russa runs Adam Engel out of town on a rail in June for saying "no problem" instead of "you're welcome," I want you to say you heard it here first.
(Photo via @whitesox on Twitter)
