La Russa’s Sudden Absence Created A “Scary” Situation For Players
The White Sox dropped their fourth straight game on Wednesday night, but that didn’t seem to matter much to the players in the locker room. Their attention was turned towards the absence of their manager.
The White Sox announced less than an hour before the game that Tony La Russa would miss the series opener at the direction of his doctors. It was a scary situation that caught many players off guard.
Andrew Vaughn admitted that he discovered the news via Twitter while other players found out from the stadium scoreboard at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“We were trying to talk about it, trying to figure out what was going on,” Vaughn told reporters. “They mentioned a few things, maybe his heart, something like that. Just health. Pretty scary.”
“You just hope he’s going to be all right,” Tuesday’s losing starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said after the game. “I don’t know any details.”
Gavin Sheets echoed Gioliot’s concern.
“Yeah, it was weird. We didn’t have much of a heads up,” Sheets said. “Obviously praying for him, praying for a full recovery. At the same time, we go out and do our job to prepare to play a game.”
La Russa gave his pregame interview session with the press on Tuesday and was on the field during batting practice before the news was announced.
Many speculated that there was a medical event that occurred. La Russa is 77 years old, and managing a major league ball club can be very mentally and physically taxing, no matter your age.
One thing was clear. There was a ton of uncertainty surrounding La Russa’s status moving forward, which affected the team.
“It really puts baseball in perspective,” Kendall Graveman told reporters during his pregame media session on Wednesday. “I understand that we want to compete and win and prepare and do the best we can, and that’s what we get paid to do. But at the end of the day, there’s stuff that I feel is vital and way more important than playing the game of baseball.”
Interim manager Miguel Cairo held a team meeting after the loss. His message was to stay focused on the task at hand and continue working hard. He told reporters he planned to meet with them again once he received more information.
Fortunately, La Russa was okay, and his absence was not due to something serious. During a morning medical evaluation with the team, doctors found something that raised some eyebrows. They determined that some time away from the stress of managing a baseball was for the best.
He traveled to Arizona and met with his personal doctors on Wednesday morning. He underwent a physical evaluation and multiple tests.
Following a medical evaluation this morning, Chicago White Sox Manager Tony La Russa now is scheduled over the coming days to undergo additional testing in Arizona by his personal physicians. His absence from the club will be indefinite pending the results of these evaluations.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 31, 2022
After viewing the results, his doctors determined that some time away from managing was warranted. He may miss the remainder of the season if he doesn’t get cleared by his doctors. However, the White Sox are optimistic that he will return soon.
“He cares way too much. He cares so much about the game,” Cairo said. “He cares about the clubhouse, the players. We love him, I love him. I played for him, I work with him, and he’s got so much knowledge about the game.”