This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
From time to time, we see it happen in the sports: A team on the rise realizes it needs the right manager or coach to take it to the next level … and then hiring a current or future Hall of Famer completely backfires for whatever reason.
The funny thing with the Chicago White Sox and their hire of Tony La Russa in 2021 was it was criticized right from the start by everyone from fans to current players, for both on- and off-field reasons.
And while the White Sox did go 93-69 last year before losing in the ALDS, there was the way he completely mishandled Yermin Mercedes breaking the so-called — and dumb — unwritten rules. He didn’t back up Mercedes when a Twins pitcher threw behind his own hitter, angering his own players in the process.
Then, there was Thursday, with the White Sox below .500 in a year when they were expected to contend: He called for an intentional walk of Trea Turner … on a 1-2 count … with two outs. He did it to get a lefty-left matchup on the Dodgers’ Max Muncy, who then sent a pitch over the wall. And then HE DEFENDED IT!
It’s a mess. It’s been a mess. And yet, as The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg reported a couple of days ago — before the intentional walk — GM Rick Hahn has made it clear it’s not only La Russa’s fault the club hasn’t played well.
“Look there’s been challenges across the board here for everyone,” Hahn said, per Greenberg. “We’ve responded to some pretty well and we’ve muddled our way through some others. That’s not just on Tony. That’s the front office. That’s me. That’s the coaches and the players themselves.”
But after what we saw Thursday and have seen in a season-plus, it’s time for a change on the South Side.
Quick hits: Jimmy Fallon beer chug fail … Another horrible umpire call … Congrats, Oklahoma softball! … and more.
— Good try, Jimmy Fallon at the Rangers-Lightning game!
— How was this called a ball?
— Oklahoma’s amazing softball team won the Women’s College World Series and did the Boomer Boogie.