New Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa has coached Minnie Minoso.
As you’ve heard by now, the Chicago White Sox have hired Tony La Russa to be their new manager. He is 76 years old and has been around the game for a very long time. In fact, he was the manager of the White Sox from 1979-1986. He was fired by Hawk Harrelson who went on to have a full-length broadcasting career between then and now. There is no doubt that this is a strange hire but one that fans have to hope that works.
When you think about all-time great players in franchise history, Minnie Minoso has to come to mind. He broke the color barrier for Chicago White Sox baseball along with just being a great baseball player. He is not in the Hall of Fame but the numbers suggest that he is close to being a guy who deserves it.
The crazy thing is that Minnie Minoso played his last Major League game on October 5th, 1980 at 54 years old. His manager that year was none other than Tony La Russa. It is wild to think about that fact because this is the guy who the White Sox hired to coach this young team.
La Russa has been around for a very long time now. At 76, he is getting one more kick at the can with this White Sox team. He was able to have a guy like Minoso on his team back then and the hope has to be that he is able to help out the younger kids on this current team. Minoso was a Cuban player and we all know about the impact of Cuban baseball on this White Sox roster.
A lot of people see things like this and made negative comments about the situation. Was La Russa the best possible hire? Probably not but they can certainly get much better than they were under Renteria. The fact that he coached Minoso is mind-numbing for fans but it is what it is at this point. Hopefully, they are all able to have success with La Russa at the help and honor Minoso properly.