Fortunately for manager Tony La Russa, the White Sox hung in there in Cleveland and got off to a good start in Minneapolis on a critical road trip heading into the All-Star break. Had things broken bad throughout the week, the heat on La Russa — from fans, at least — would’ve been on high.
Instead, it’s … high-ish?
In this week’s “Polling Place” — your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter — we asked voters if they’d make a managerial change on either side of town. And even though the Cubs are on pace for 100 losses, David Ross came out smelling like a rose. La Russa, not so much.
“It’s painfully obvious that Tony has seen better days,” @ShawnaP79 commented.
“Rossy is at least getting an honest effort out of his team on a nightly basis,” @JeffreyCanalia wrote. “The Sox look like they’re sleepwalking through the season.”
We also asked about Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez: As often as he gets hurt, should he be in the designated hitter role all the time? We asked about the job new Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson is doing, too. On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: If you were in charge of Chicago’s baseball teams, would you make a managerial change on either side of town?
Upshot: It’s hard to make a fair assessment of Ross’ performance because no manager could win with this Cubs roster. Someday he’ll leave — or lose — this job, and chances are we still won’t quite know what to make of him as a skipper. But with La Russa, things are cut-and-dried: He has the horses, he draws frequent criticism and here we are.
Poll No. 2: Has the time come to pull oft-injured White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez out of left field and make him a full-time designated hitter?
Upshot: The other night, he ran at about three-quarters speed to catch a ball — a routine play, really — and ended up limping off the field (again), missing some games (again) and sending Sox fans over the edge (again). Many, including @den_manders_01, would like to see an outfield of A.J. Pollock, Luis Robert and Adam Engel. No doubt, it would be a much better one defensively.
Poll No. 3: New general manager Kyle Davidson has made a flurry of moves as the Blackhawks rebuild. On the whole so far, do you approve or disapprove?
Upshot: This vote is inconclusive. Then again, Davidson pretty much just got here. “Those who disapprove are too clueless to realize we needed a full rebuild,” wrote @TheAflacDach. Maybe so. But as @epicco77 sees it, “Davidson and his braintrust had two young talents in Dach and the Cat [and] received in exchange ‘maybes’ and ‘ifs.’ “
