No Breeze for LaRussa : A’s Manager, Though Still Settling In, Has Club Headed in the Right Direction

All was not well in Oakland when Tony LaRussa blew into town from the Windy City on July 2. It seemed that the Oakland A’s were losing games--and healthy players--faster than they cared to count.

But then, if everything were rosy, there would be no need for LaRussa to bring his managerial skills west. Part of the rub of taking a job as a baseball manager around the middle of summer is that it’s likely you wouldn’t have gotten a call if there wasn’t a major league mess awaiting you.

When LaRussa was hired, the A’s were 31-52 and fading fast. Outfielder Dwayne Murphy was coming off the disabled list. Pitchers Moose Haas, Joaquin Andujar and Jay Howell were still there. Jackie Moore, LaRussa’s predecessor, was fired on June 26, the day after Oakland’s record fell to 29-44, the worst in the major leagues.

Such adversity does not lend itself well to smooth transitions.

“It’s not a comfortable situation because you know you were brought in because the club was struggling,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s like walking on egg shells. You just try to be yourself.”

So LaRussa, who had spent more than six full seasons as manager of the Chicago White Sox before he and Ken Harrelson--the club’s flamboyant general manager--parted ways, came to Oakland to be himself and to see if he could restore some sense of identity to a team that many felt would seriously contend for the American League West championship.

At the very least, he appears to have turned the A’s in the proper direction. After Friday night’s 6-4 loss to the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, the A’s have gone 21-14 since LaRussa managed his first game on July 7. They are 18-10 since the All-Star break.

Of course, it hasn’t hurt to have Jay Howell, who provided the A’s with 29 saves in 1985, no longer hurting. Howell came off the disabled list July 20. Since then, he has worked 14 scoreless innings and is 5 of 5 in save opportunities. That kind of relief pitching can make a manager look very smart.

LaRussa, one of five managers in major league history to be licensed to practice law, is no dummy. He knows it will take time and a few more healthy pitching arms for the A’s to become contenders. The remainder of this season can best be used to allow LaRussa and his players to get used to one another.

“I still don’t feel really settled in,” LaRussa said. “But I think every day the players and I get a little better understanding of each other. The reception has been good.”

That’s more than can be said of his departure from Chicago. LaRussa guided the White Sox to a 99-63 season in 1983, the best regular-season record in baseball. Chicago finished 20 games ahead of second-place Kansas City in the AL West.

The White Sox slipped to 74-88 in 1984 and were 85-77 last season. This year, at the insistence of Harrelson, catcher Carlton Fisk became left fielder Carlton Fisk. LaRussa became entangled in something of a power struggle, and the White Sox became a team with a mess of its own. A 4-3 loss to Milwaukee Friday night left Chicago with a 51-63 record, and Pale Hose fans now pick up the morning paper each day to see which aging castaway Harrelson will put in uniform next.

LaRussa politely declined to talk about his experiences with Harrelson this season.

“I have some thoughts,” he said, “but I don’t talk about them.”

LaRussa prefers to talk about the future. He seems to think the A’s have one. In the meantime, he’s helping them make the present much more bearable.