Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa has been involved with the game of baseball for nearly 60 years. Despite that, he may have been a part of a major league first Thursday, when he ordered an intentional walk to Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Trea Turner, despite his team having the edge with a 1-2 count.
As if the baseball gods were watching, the Dodgers’ next man up Max Muncy crushed a three-run home run into the left field bleachers, scoring what would eventually become the game-winning runs.
Just like all of the old baseball men out there would, La Russa defended his decision.
“Is there some question about whether that was a good move or not?” La Russa said, as seen in video provided by NBC Sports Chicago. “Do you know what (Turner) hits against left-handed pitching with 0-1 or two strikes? Do you know what Muncy hits with two strikes against a left-handed pitcher? Is that really a question? We had an open base and Muncy happened to be the guy behind him and that’s a better matchup.
“Somebody disagrees, that’s the beauty of this game, they’re welcome to it. But that wasn’t a tough call.”
Turner himself was surprised by the move.
“I was just confused,” Turner said postgame. “I didn’t know if I should go to first or not, but I guess they liked the matchup.”
Tony La Russa has been no stranger to controversy in his second stint with the White Sox. It’s only a matter of time until we get our next glimpse into the mind of the outspoken 77-year-old.
