Tony La Russa Finally Addresses DUI Arrest

Baseball season is back today. While it may be snowing and/or absolutely freezing in most of the country, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training today, which means we’ll have baseball back before we know it.

For new Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa, this season means something else entirely. It’s about proving that a 76-year-old man can successfully manage a ball club after being out of the dugout for ten years. He made it a lot easier on his critics when it was revealed that La Russa was charged with a DUI last year. La Russa knows this, and he finally broke his silence on the eve of Spring Training.

“I made no excuses, it was an inexcusable mistake,’’ La Russa said via USA Today. “It has cost as much embarrassment personally as possible. Anyone to think that this wasn’t something that had a very negative impact. …

“I mean part of the embarrassment and negative feelings is the impact on the organization and the fans and the people that hired me. There were already enough questions of me managing, and then this. It has been torturous.”

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Tony La Russa has nothing to prove as a big league manager. He has three championships under his belt, and has already been elected into the Hall-Of-Fame. Now, he’ll constantly be reminded of a DUI arrest, and he’ll be heavily scrutinized for being the old man in what has turned into a young, analytical game in years past.

All of this begs the question…what’s the point? Why did Tony La Russa feel the need to take on this headache at this stage of his life? Maybe the White Sox were too good to pass up. Or, maybe La Russa is just wired differently.

Some guys can’t handle retirement. A life of golfing and chilling on a beach somewhere just isn’t for them. Tony La Russa seems to be one of those guys. He’s a baseball lifer who just couldn’t resist the opportunity to lead a team on a nightly basis. We’ll see if he can prove his haters wrong this season.

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