The New Number-Two

While I paid most of my attention to last weekend's Yankees - Red Sox and Mets - Padres series, a baseball milestone nearly flew under the radar.

On Sunday, when the White Sox shut out the Tigers, Tony LaRussa passed John McGraw to become the second winningest manager ever -- with 2764 career victories. Only Connie Mack has posted more, almost 1000 more (3731) over his never-to-be-matched 50 years as skipper of the Philadelphia A's. Tony also stands second to Mr. Mack in one other category -- most decades. A three-season stint with the 1890s Pirates, tacked onto 1901-'50 with the Athletics means he managed in seven different decades. LaRussa, whose first job came with the 1979 White Sox, has "only" been around for six.

Just the second manager (after fellow Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson) to manage World Series winners in each league, Tony LaRussa is credited -- or blamed -- for the practice of using multiple relievers, leading up to a 9th-inning-only closer, after his starter completes six innings.

And the challenge remains that, even with a talented ballclub, can LaRussa at age 76, shepherd his team to October? There was already the fallout from his criticism of rookie standout Yermin Mercedes hitting a 3-0 pitch for a home run in a blowout game. And two-thirds of the regular season is yet to be played.

The White Sox have led the AL Central for the last five weeks. With division rivals such as Cleveland and Minnesota having serious question marks, don't be surprised to see Tony LaRussa lead a team back to the post-season in 2021.

(My image of Tony LaRussa is from a Cardinals/Dodgers exhibition game at Jupiter, Florida in March 2005.)



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