Report: White Sox manager Tony La Russa to announce retirement Monday
Tony La Russa, who has been away from the White Sox since Aug. 30 with a heart issue, is reportedly going to announce his retirement Monday before the Sox play the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field in the final series of the regular season.
According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, La Russa received a phone call from his doctors on Aug. 29 and was told to stop managing immediately.
The Hall of Fame manager was examined in Chicago and then flew to Arizona and underwent a procedure to repair his pacemaker.
La Russa, who turns 78 on Tuesday, rejoined the White Sox on Sept. 10 in Oakland to attend Dave Stewart's retirement ceremony.
La Russa managed Stewart and the Athletics from 1986-95 and won the World Series in 1989.
He talked to reporters in Oakland.
"Health ain't nothing to mess with," La Russa said. "I got checked in Chicago and the reason I flew to Arizona is because that's been the place since the '90s where I've had physicals. They addressed it, they fixed it, now it's just a question of regaining strength. Don't mess with health."
Sox bench coach Miguel Cairo, who played for La Russa with the Cardinals, took over as acting manager on Aug. 30.
The White Sox lost his first game as manager, 9-7 to the Royals, and Cairo challenged his players.
"I saw something that I didn't like in that game and I couldn't let it pass," Cairo said. "I just let them know how I felt about it and are you in or are you out? If you are out, let me know. If you are in, let's go for it."
The Sox won the nine of their next 11 but fell out of the AL Central race after being swept by Cleveland in a three-game home series.
Cairo will be a candidate to permanently replace La Russa, but the White Sox might hire a more proven manager like Bruce Bochy, Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi or Joe Maddon.
Two bench coaches, Tampa Bay's Matt Quatraro and Houston's Joe Espada, should also get looks and Class AA Birmingham manager Justin Jirschele is another name to watch.
Under La Russa, the Sox were 93-69 last season before being eliminated by the Astros in the first round of the playoffs. La Russa was 78-80 this year.
Over 35 years as a MLB manager, La Russa is 2,899-2,514 and he's won three World Series.