Tony La Russa pleads guilty to reckless driving originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
White Sox manager Tony La Russa pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of reckless driving stemming from his February arrest for driving under the influence in Arizona.
La Russa was arrested and charged with driving under the influence during spring training, while a member of the Los Angeles Angels front office. He was hired as the White Sox new manager at the end of October, the charges filed a day prior to his hiring becoming official, the delay due to the charges initially being filed under the wrong jurisdiction. As part of a plea agreement, the charge was changed to reckless driving.
La Russa was sentenced to one day in jail, which will be served via home detention, as well as a fine of $1,383 and 20 hours of community service.
The White Sox said they knew about the arrest when they brought La Russa back for a second stint as the South Side skipper, refraining from commenting further until after the matter was settled.
The Chicago baseball team released the following statement regarding La Russa:
With today's announcement, Tony La Russa accepted responsibility and has been held legally accountable for his poor behavior and the questionable choices he made last February. The White Sox understand the anger and concern expressed by some about hiring Tony under these circumstances. Tony has expressed to us his remorse, and he understands he brought this on himself.
We understand that people make mistakes and exercise poor judgment in life. In this case, Tony is fortunate his decisions that night did not injure himself or anyone else. We also believe people deserve the opportunity, at all points in their lives, to improve. Tony knows there is no safety net below him. There cannot be a third strike.
Tony has a proud and productive history with the White Sox and Major League Baseball, which is why we are standing by him. He has done his job exceptionally well in the past. He has always shown an ability to inspire his players and to bring his teams to a championship level. We are confident that Tony will improve our team, while improving himself.
