Baseball’s changed a lot since 1986, the last time Tony La Russa managed the Chicago White Sox, but after re-establishing himself as a prominent manager, winning three championships with the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals, he has returned to the Southside.

The White Sox, who made the playoffs, have a number of veterans such as Jose Abreu (potential AL MVP), 2015 Cy Young Dallas Keuchel, Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion. Yet, it’s their young core that’s leading the way, featuring Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Lucas Giolito. In his first stint as a White Sox manager, La Russa won his first of four Manager of the Year awards in 1983. Over his career, he went 2,728-2365 as a Major League skipper. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2014.

He hasn’t been inside of a Major League dugout since winning the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011, yet the 76-year-old has stayed active within the game of baseball, taking front office positions with the Diamondbacks, Angels, Red Sox and White Sox since. Over his first tenure as a White Sox manager, he went 522-510.

The Sox went 35-25 this season, yet parted ways with manager Rick Renteria anyway. La Russa was reported to put his name into the hat. He was let go when Ken Harrelson took over as GM in 1986, a move owner Jerry Reinsdorf has regularly stated he regrets.

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