Sabathia went on an absolute tirade against the White Sox manager in a recent episode of the R2C2 podcast he hosts with Ryan Ruocco (WARNING: That link contains NSFW language). The former Yankees starter called La Russa “out of touch” and criticized his handling of Yermin Mercedes’ decision to swing at 3-0 pitch in a blowout Chicago win.
MORE: La Russa gets unlikely endorsement from Smash Mouth
Put a 10-run rule up there if y’all don’t wanna see people get embarrassed, and you don’t wanna see position players pitch, and people swing on 3-0 pitches and all that s— then make it a 10-run rule so the f—ing game will be over and you don’t have these stupid-ass unwritten rules.
And now, you’ve got a rookie that’s basically been carrying your f—ing team these first six weeks of the season, this guy’s been carrying you. And now, you don’t have a problem with the f—ing weird-ass Minnesota Twins throwing behind one of your biggest hitters? That’s just f—ing stupid. It’s stupid, period. I’m sorry. This s— is terrible. He shouldn’t be f—ing managing that team. If you’re not gonna step up and have your players back, then what’s the point of being the f—ing manager of the White Sox? S— is stupid as f—, sorry.
Sabathia made a lot of good points, but the one that sticks out is about La Russa not having Mercedes’ back after the Twins threw at him.
Bare minimum, La Russa should’ve defended his player after that incident. Instead, he chose to claim the Twins were in the right for throwing behind Mercedes, and that has put him at risk of losing the locker room.
Nonetheless, no matter what Sabathia or others think of La Russa, the 76-year-old Hall of Famer will likely continue to serve as the manager of the White Sox. After all, he was the apple of owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s eye during the 2020-21 MLB offseason.
But that doesn’t make Sabathia’s tirade any more cathartic for those who are fed up with the unwritten rules of baseball and those, such as La Russa, who protect them.
