White Sox Make It Official: Tony La Russa To Manage Team In 2022

CHICAGO — A year ago, Chicago White Sox fans were skeptical about the hiring of a 76-year-old Hall of Fame manager to take a young, talent-laden team into the future.

On Friday, the Sox made it official, confirming what was among the worst-kept secrets in town: Tony La Russa will remain at the helm for at least for another season.

La Russa, 77, guided the White Sox to the American League Central Division title in his first year back on Chicago’s South Side. But after finishing with a 93-69 record and a 13-game cushion for their first division championship since 2008, the White Sox were knocked out of the American playoffs in four games by eventual league champion Houston.

When asked earlier this fall about returning for 2022, La Russa said he had the desire to keep managing but that he would only return to the job with the Sox if players and the front office wanted the same thing.

General manager Rick Hahn told reporters Friday that La Russa and his coaching staff are indeed returning, which La Russa implied would happen in a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune.

Shortstop Tim Anderson and first baseman Jose Abreu vouched for La Russa after a season-ending loss to the Astros, calling the manager who has guided teams to three World Series titles the right person for the job. In a recent poll of Patch readers, 54 percent of respondents said they believed that La Russa should be retained for another season.

La Russa told the Tribune last week that he had been given the assurance that he was coming back immediately after the season and that he and Hahn were already discussing plans for the future.

‘We’re working the process: ‘What did we do right? What do we have to do better?'” La Russa told the Tribune. “All the coaches are looking at it, and I am, and once you identify what it is, that’s really the most exciting part. You look at things we were not good enough at, and we just played a season, now we know.”

Hahn, like La Russa remains optimistic about the direction the Sox are headed in despite a second straight early exit from the playoffs. Like last season, when Rick Renteria was fired after the Sox made the playoffs but lost to the Athletics in four games.

Hahn said Friday that the Astros were simply the better team over the four games in the divisional series loss. Asked whether that defines how he sees the season as a whole, Hahn said he takes a simple formula in defining success.

"I tend to be binary about these things," Hahn said. "It's pass/fail. We don't win the final game of the postseason so we didn't meet our ultimate goal. That said, there is a lot of reason for hope going forward."