Waiting for Comment

Well, here’s another reason not to feel all warm and fuzzy about the White Sox hiring Tony LaRussa to be their next manager—LaRussa has a DUI case pending in Arizona. A Sox official said, Yes, they knew about it but couldn’t say anything more given that the proceedings are ongoing. What he might have commented on is why the Sox and their new-old hire didn’t feel a need to get ahead of this when LaRussa was brought back last month. That would’ve been the smart thing to do, and Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is supposed to be the smartest guy in the room. Oh, wait. Reinsdorf was nowhere to be seen on the day of the hiring. As for the man of the hour, LaRussa was contacted and seized the issue right by its horns (not). When ESPN phoned him on Monday, LaRussa responded with, “I have nothing to say,” after which he hung up. Allow me, then, to say a few things in his stead. For openers, this is the second time LaRussa has been charged with DUI, the first time during spring training in Florida in 2007. The then-Cardinals’ manager pleaded guilty and said, “I accept full responsibility for my conduct and assure everyone that I have learned a very valuable lesson,” which must have been that it pays to have a billionaire baseball owner for a friend. I can’t help but think there’s a pattern here. If LaRussa drives and drinks, does he drink at work, if not in the dugout then up in a suite, the kind a special assistant might find himself in for the Red Sox or Diamondbacks? I’m also curious if alcohol affects LaRussa’s behavior. Is he a mean drunk or just a boor of a drunk? Does he get all gushy and sentimental or stare down at his drink brooding? Do the White Sox know what kind of drinker LaRussa is? They should.