Near the end of the Chicago White Sox loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday afternoon, some White Sox fans at Guaranteed Rate Field made it known that they’ve had enough of manager Tony La Russa.
The game went into extra innings, with the two teams tied at 7-7. Matt Foster started the 10th inning on the mound for Chicago and nothing went right for him. Foster surrendered a leadoff double to Nathaniel Lowe, which scored free runner Charlie Culberson. Lowe advanced to third on a single by Ezequiel Duran, then scored on a passed ball, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Foster then walked Brad Miller. At that point, an audible “Fire Tony” chant started in Chicago.
FIRE TONY pic.twitter.com/xOMdUJiQME
— Jack (@WhiteSox_Jack) June 11, 2022
And while the chants were clearly audible on television, they were even more clear at the stadium.
"Fire Tony" chants erupt as fans funnel out of the ballpark in the 10th. pic.twitter.com/ggQYBoCzC6
— Joey Doughnuts (@JoeyDoughnuts_) June 11, 2022
Those chants were music to the ears of many baseball fans watching the game.
That Fire Tony chant got me loving this fanbase
— BK (@TheBennettK) June 11, 2022
Elite execution on the Fire Tony chant
— Brian Knights (@BrianKnights3) June 11, 2022
The best part is Stone and Benetti quieting down for 20 seconds as the fire Tony chants started. Beautiful
— Cheapseatspod (@cheapbbpodcast) June 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/satavvibes/status/1535740232980635649
Unfortunately for La Russa, the rest of the game did nothing to quell the anger of the White Sox fans. Zach Reks singled to load the bases. At that point, La Russa mercifully removed Foster from the game. His replacement, Jose Ruiz, promptly allowed a two-run single to Marcus Semien, with both runs being charged to Foster. Ruiz did escape further damage but it wasn’t good enough.
Making matters worse, Chicago scored two runs in ninth. So, if the White Sox had limited the damage to where things were when the “Fire Tony” chants began, they still could have won the game. But it wasn’t to be. They ended up on the wrong side of an 11-9 final.
This is the second consecutive game where the Sox scored nine and lost by multiple runs.
Both games ended 11-9
Gio disappointed and offered his angry face. TLR mismanaged again. An audible “Fire Tony” chant erupted throughout Guaranteed Rate. Reinsdorf remains indifferent.
— All Things Chicago Sports (@things_sox) June 11, 2022
It’s been a bad week for La Russa. On Thursday, he made the controversial decision to walk Trea Turner, despite the count being 1-2, which backfired spectacularly. And as bad as the decision was, his explanation might have been worse.
The White Sox came into the season on a short list of favorites to win the American League pennant. But Saturday’s loss moved them to 27-30, six games behind in the American League Central and three games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League. If things don’t get better in Chicago, those “Fire Tony” chants won’t be going away any time soon.
[White Sox Jack, Joey Doughnuts]
