Tony La Russa did his best to explain his way out of a major gaffe he made during Thursday’s game between his Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
La Russa intentionally walked Trea Turner in the sixth inning despite Turner having a 1-2 count. The decision to walk Turner could have made sense at the beginning of the at-bat when there was no count, but it made little sense with his pitcher a strike away from getting out of the inning.
La Russa’s decision completely backfired when Max Muncy, who was batting next, hit a 3-run home run to put the Dodgers up 10-5. The Dodgers won 11-9.
The White Sox manager was asked after the game about his decision. He tried to play it off like he was surprised people found it to be a questionable decision.
Tony La Russa defends his decision to walk Trae Turner on a 1-2 count pic.twitter.com/hyhUQgTtXa
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) June 9, 2022
“Is there some question about whether that was a good move or not?” La Russa asked. “Is that really a question? Because it was 1-2?”
La Russa continued to act surprised over the whole thing.
“That wasn’t a tough call,” La Russa concluded.
The whole routine from La Russa feels a bit George Costanza-like. He either knows he screwed up but is so committed to the lie that he’s trying to convince everyone else that they’re crazy. Or he really just doesn’t see the issue.
The move made so little sense and was so inexplicable that the only explanation is that La Russa screwed up. He probably just doesn’t want to admit it.
