White Sox’s Tony La Russa Defends Controversial Decision Vs. Dodgers

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.