(670 The Score) The White Sox are 5-2 since manager Tony La Russa left the team to deal with a medical issue, but NBC Sports Chicago analyst Steve Stone doesn’t believe the club’s recent improved play is at all connected to the much-criticized La Russa’s absence.
“I explain it that this is a team that should have played this well for a long time, and they just haven’t been,” Stone said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Tuesday morning. “So I don’t think I would attach too much to the fact that Tony is gone and now the team is suddenly starting to play (better). I think I mentioned in a tweet last week, I said, you know, a lot of people question the motivations of players and what exactly do they win for? Who exactly do they hustle for? What are they thinking about when they go out to win a baseball game? And one of the things that a major league player is thinking about is consistently is, they’re going out to win a baseball game today because that’s how they got to where they are. These are the best players in the world, and they got to the biggest stage in the world because they went out and won baseball on a daily basis.”
Stone on Tuesday also shared his belief that La Russa will return to the dugout this season. La Russa left the White Sox last week to see his personal physicians in Arizona and to undergo heart tests. The White Sox haven’t offered an official update on La Russa’s health in recent days.
At 68-67, the White Sox trail the AL Central-leading Guardians by two games.
“Right now, the White Sox are emotionally where they want to be,” Stone said. “I do believe that Tony is going to come back. And when he comes back, I expect this Sox team to do exactly what they’re doing. You don’t know how they’re going to respond, but I do know what probably should happen.
And that is a little meeting that you have and you say, ‘Look,’ – if you’re Tony – ‘I love what’s going on so far and I love the life and I love the things that are happening and I love the fact that (acting manager) Miguel (Cairo) took over, he was very aggressive, he’s using hit-and-runs, he’s moving around players, he changed the batting order a bit, I like the way this is happening, let’s continue along those same lines and let’s see just what can accomplish.
Let’s see just how good we are.’”
Stone has been texting with La Russa a bit, and Stone said that La Russa assured him he’s feeling “much better,” though he didn’t provide specific details.
“I do know that when the doctors are absolutely sure that he’s entirely healthy, he will come back,” Stone said. “I know that he wants to come back.”
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