Tony La Russa, who is in his second season of his second stint as manager of the Chicago White Sox, is expected to announce his retirement on Monday.
La Russa, who turns 78 on Tuesday, was planning to return for the 2023 season to fulfill his contractual obligations. However, on Aug. 29, he received a phone call from his doctors asking him to come in to get testing on his heart and underwent a procedure to repair his pacemaker.
The doctors told La Russa that he shouldn’t manage again. La Russa is listening to his doctors and will walk away from managing the White Sox. He will reportedly stay with the organization as a special assistant.
La Russa, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, had managed the White Sox before, from 1979-86 posting a 614-622 record, before finding success as the Athletics and Cardinals manager, winning a championship in Oakland and two in St. Louis. He retired in 2011 after winning a second championship with the Cardinals before coming out of retirement in 2021 to go back to Chicago.
Last season, he managed the White Sox to a 93-69 record, good enough for the AL Central crown, but his team fell to the eventual AL champion Houston Astros in four games in the ALDS.
This year, the White Sox entered the season with high expectations, hopeful for a championship, but they didn’t meet those expectations and have had a very mediocre season.
They entered a last-gasp, three-game series against Cleveland at home on Sept. 20, needing to sweep the Guardians to stay alive in the AL Central race, but lost all three en route to an eight-game losing streak to eliminate them from playoff contention. What started as a season with high hopes came crashing down around them.
Chicago will now have to look for a new manager, their fourth in eight seasons.
