On Monday, White Sox slugger Yermín Mercedes swung on a 3-0 count in the ninth inning while up 11 runs. It was garbage time, and rather than taking the pitch, he swung and crushed a homer.
And man, people got mad, including Mercedes’ manager: The perpetually cranky Tony La Russa.
The skipper threw his young slugger under the bus, saying that he told Mercedes to take the pitch.
"Big mistake," La Russa said Tuesday. "The fact that he's a rookie, and excited, helps explain why he just was clueless. But now he's got a clue."
No, Tony. Mercedes isn’t the clueless one. You are.
Because even if you are upset that he swung, upset that he ignored the sign, upset that he didn’t respect the game (there’s some low-hanging fruit here about La Russa turning a blind eye to Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco’s ushering in of the steroid era), the manager needs to be in the player’s corner publicly. If he has these issues, keep it private. People are going to be going after your player. It’s the manager’s job to protect his team.
On Tuesday, Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey retaliated by throwing a pitch behind Mercedes. He got ejected, and the first person out to defend was his manager, Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli hardly comes off as a good guy here, but it’s his job to protect his player, even if it doesn’t look good.
La Russa was gifted perhaps baseball’s most talented roster. You and I could probably manage that group to the playoffs.
He could destroy the culture though, and that incredibly talented roster could implode because of stupid decisions like this.
And it’s worth mentioning again that La Russa is upset because his player hit a homer. Ridiculous.
YOUR TURN: Who is in the wrong here? Mercedes or La Russa?
