Stupid "unwritten rule" strikes White Sox

[Boris13c]

the White Sox were cruising along kicking the crap out of the dogshit Twins to the point the Twins were putting position players on the mound ... Yermin Mercedes came to the plate in the 9th and on a 3-0 pitch, blasted one into the seats for what ended up being the Sox final run on the day ... good for him since he has been the Sox top of the line hitter this season, so let him continue to stay on his game at the plate regardless of score, right?

not according to White Sox Manager Tony LaRussa who said after the game : "He made a mistake, so there will be consequences."

excuse me?

so by that statement, insulting one of your players for doing what he is paid to do, you're saying he should have stopped trying ... and if you don't want your players to try, then why don't you get together with the other manager and simply call the game ... over and done

Tatis of the Padres got called out in a similar situation last year where he was told by his manager to apologize for hitting a HR off a 3-0 count in a game the Padres were winning handily

wtf people?

every inning a player is on the field, he should be trying to do his best ... for managers to chastise their own players for doing just that is simply asinine IMO

so what if Mercedes had taken that 3-0 pitch and then blasted his homer on 3-1? would that have been ok? and if so, wtf difference does it make if he hit it out on 3-0 or 3-1?

all of these unwritten rules are the game within the game for baseball ... some of them kind of make sense ... some of them are bullshit carried on from a different era that no one can explain

any unwritten rule that establishes players should not be giving 100% effort 100% of the time is one that needs to be done away with

plus, this was against the whining bullshit Twins, who last year got into a whine-fest when an opponent bunted for a hit to break up a no hitter ... normally maybe I would have agreed with the Twins, except in this instance, they had the shift on, so if they are going to shift on a hitter, why is the hitter not allowed to beat the shift?

time for modern era baseball to follow modern era common sense

[Otis Day]

One of the many reasons I have pulled away from the game. The game is about competition. You compete until the game is over. If you don't want a 3-0 pitch out of the park, 1) don't get down 3-0, 2) make a better pitch. I don't care if it was a position player or not. The Twins put themselves in that situation by placing the position player in as a pitcher. You don't want that shit to happen, don't allow it. I think you try to put up as many runs as you can.

The SHIFT!!!! OMFG!!! If big league players can't hit away from the shift, they shouldn't be playing in the MLB. Sports are about adjustments. When a guy is a dead pull hitter, put that damn shift on, make the s.o.b. hit the other way. Hitter has to adjust to the D's adjustment.

Rules that are not written are not rules in my book. There is no rule that states a team up by 30 mid way thru the 4th qtr can't pass the damn ball. Why put a back up in just to hand off the ball? What evaluation can you make from that?

[Boris13c]

apparently LaRussa wasn't finished providing evidence the game has passed him by ... next game when the Twins threw at Mercedes, LaRussa said he was ok with how the Twins responded

so he publicly insults his own player for doing his job, then doubles down on being an asshole by saying he is ok with an opponent throwing at his own players

there were so many different ways LaRussa could have handled this, but he chose to simply keep his head firmly in his ass so reason and common sense could not intervene

if Reinsdorf is paying attention and cares even a little bit, he will admit his error and fire LaRussa before what could be a great season gets ruined

[UOK]

Tony's a drunk and the game left him behind 10 years ago. Should never have been hired. I know the Sox are kicking ass but it's in spite of him, not because of his managerial style/prowess.

[Xee]

Not being a baseball fan, does this happen often?

In football, even in blowouts, it's not until those final snaps when they're running out the clock does the offense take it easy. And even in those cases, you still have the defense firing off the line hoping for a miracle or out of just pure anger for losing. Or maybe a better example will be when someone is taking kickoff for a TD and you're 30 yards behind with no chance of catching up, you're expected to still hustle because some coaches will look at the tape after the game and look specifically for loafers.

Just seems weird to tell a player "don't try at all".

[southdakbearfan]

When you put someone on the mound that has no business being there I.e. a position player not named ohtani , which is done to improve your chances the next day as you aren’t depleting your bullpen, all the bullshit unwritten rules go out the window.

I am sure all the twins batters didn’t try to keep scoring runs and if they had mounted a comeback wouldn’t have stopped one run short and say hey they weren’t trying for 2 innings so we need to let them win. I am also sure if the Sox had put a position player on the mound they would have tee’d off on him and called it an insult.

This wasn’t stealing third up 10 runs in the 8th, it wasn’t Greg schiano having players diving at ankles in kneel down time.

[Boris13c]

Not being a baseball fan, does this happen often?

I wouldn't say often, but at least a dozen, maybe couple dozen, times a season someone has their panties in a knot over some unwritten rules violation

Just seems weird to tell a player "don't try at all".

as has already been noted, LaRussa is a moron from caveman times and will do stupid shit to allegedly maintain the integrity of the game with strict adherence to unwritten rules ... which is total and complete horse shit, much like LaRussa himself

not only did LaRussa say his player should not have been trying in that situation, but publicly insulted him for trying, which to me is unacceptable

[thunderspirit]

Screw Tony La Russa.

[UOK]

Screw Tony La Russa.

Evergreen post.

[G08]

I hate the White Sox (Go Cubs), but I will say I like their young talent.

I like even more that they made the absolute stupidest managerial hire in bringing back Tony LaRussa.

[thunderspirit]

I hate the White Sox (Go Cubs), but I will say I like their young talent.

I am also a Cubs fan, but personally I can't hate the White Sox. (YMMV.)

That said...

I like even more that they made the absolute stupidest managerial hire in bringing back Tony LaRussa.

Screw Tony La Russa.

[karhu]

Screw Tony La Russa.

Lifelong Sox fan--Fergie Jenkins is the only interesting or likeable Cub who's played in my lifetime, and I'm glad I got to see him at Comiskey when he was with the Rangers.

And I approve this post.

Fuck TLR. At this point, he's Jim Boylen with a wig and a diseased liver.