Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge, and an Arizona judge gave him one day of home detention.
Maricopa County Judge Ashley Fritz also ordered La Russa to pay a $1,383 fine and serve 20 hours of community sentence during a telephonic hearing that resolved the driving-under-the-influence case that went public shortly after La Russa’s hire this fall.
La Russa’s sentence adhered to the terms of a plea agreement made public earlier this month. In a statement, La Russa attorney Lawrence Kazan said, “Mr. La Russa knows he made a mistake last February and deeply regrets it. He is embarrassed and concerned. He knows what he did was wrong.”
“The charge was reduced because Mr. La Russa was found to be over the legal threshold by a small amount,” Kazan wrote. “Nevertheless, Mr. La Russa understands that any amount over the limit is too much.”
Kazan told the judge La Russa had already completed alcohol counseling.
“I feel deep remorse and regret over what I did,” La Russa said on a conference call with reporters shortly after receiving his sentence. “It’s impossible to explain how deeply this gets at you and has bothered me for a long time. Obviously I used bad judgment that night in February. I am grateful to the White Sox for standing by me even though this happened before they hired me. I really let them down, and many others — my family and friends. In Chicago, I let the fans down.
“It’s not the way I wanted to start my relationship the second time around.”
La Russa said he will never forget “the anguish” he has experienced since February. He also said he does not have an alcohol problem. He vowed not to drive after drinking.
“I know I need to prove myself, both on and off the field,” he said.
Following Monday’s hearing, Maricopa County Justice Court spokesman Scott Davis told the Sun-Times that, “plea agreements like this, which seem to come with reduced fines or jail terms, are very common and would have presumably nothing to do with a person’s status in the community.”
“This is very normal,” Davis said.
La Russa’s hiring on Oct. 29 — despite his record as the third-winningest manager of all time, three World Series rings and Hall of Fame status — was met with pushback from fans and media. And that was before it was known that La Russa, a close friend of Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, had been arrested in February.
Objectors cited La Russa’s age, 76, and his absence from the dugout since 2011 during an era of baseball that has shifted significantly toward more modern, analytically driven managing styles. La Russa previously pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor DUI charge in Jupiter, Florida. The Sox said they knew of La Russa’s latest arrest when he was hired.
That arrest came after a witness called police Feb. 24 to report a vehicle “swerving across all lanes” of a highway in Arizona. The witness said the vehicle had hit a curb and had begun to smoke before coming to a stop, according to public records. An officer found the vehicle, a gray Lexus RX350, and identified the driver as La Russa.”
La Russa told the officer he had been “coming from a dinner with my friends with the California Angels baseball team,” had a tire blow out and was calling AAA, records show. But the officer smelled alcohol. And tests allegedly showed La Russa’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.095 — above the legal limit of 0.08.
The Sox had not commented until the team released this statement Monday:
“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.”
A DUI conviction could have subjected La Russa to a sentence of not less than 10 days in jail and a fine of no less than $250, according to Arizona state law.
