Monday, White Sox manager Tony La Russa was sentenced to 20 hours of community service, a day of home detention and a fine of nearly $1,400 after pleading guilty to reckless driving stemming from a February DUI arrest in Arizona. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the Hall-of-Fame skipper was apologetic, feeling “deep remorse and regret” about an incident he described as a “serious mistake.” La Russa revealed he recently underwent 20 hours of alcohol counseling, an experience he found “very helpful.”
“It’s impossible to explain how daily and deeply this gets at you and has bothered me for a long time,” said La Russa via Jay Cohen of the Associated Press. “Obviously I displayed bad judgment that night in February.”
Despite a previous DUI arrest in 2007, La Russa insists he doesn’t have an alcohol dependency. “I know I don’t have a drinking problem,” said La Russa, who was hired to replace Rick Renteria this fall. “What’s painfully clear to me is if I have a drink, I will not drive. There’s always an alternative.”
La Russa blew a tire and hit a curb driving his Lexus on the night of February 24th. The 76-year-old was eventually charged in Maricopa County, which contains Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, after reporting a blood alcohol level of .095. That’s above the state’s legal limit of .08.
The White Sox were aware of La Russa’s arrest when they hired him and though Chicago has stood by its veteran manager to this point, the team and La Russa both acknowledge there is “no safety net below him.” “Before the conversations got serious at all, I made sure that I informed them that there was this mistake situation in February that was now getting close to coming to some kind of conclusion,” said La Russa, who last managed in the majors in 2011. “Their decision was that it is a mistake, they know how serious it is, but they decided to support me and I appreciate them for that.”
In Chicago, La Russa will preside over a promising young White Sox team coming off its first playoff appearance in 12 years. A three-time World Series champion with the Cardinals and Athletics, La Russa ranks third all-time among managers with 2,728 career wins, trailing only fellow Cooperstown enshrinees Connie Mack and John McGraw.
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