Tony La Russa to arresting officer during DUI: 'Do you see my ring? I'm a Hall of Famer'
We’ve all heard the cliché about a celebrity getting stopped by a police officer and playing the “Don’t you know who I am?” card. If you thought nobody would actually be that desperate, new Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa is here to prove otherwise.
New details have emerged about his February DUI arrest, which was made public on Monday. ESPN’s Jeff Passan is now reporting that La Russa tried to big-time his way out of the arrest by showing the police officer his ring and bragging about being a baseball Hall of Famer.
According to the police report obtained by ESPN, this is the officer’s account of the DUI stop:
La Russa stated, “I had one glass of wine while at dinner with my friends.” Before searching his person and placing him in the rear of my patrol vehicle La Russa asked, “Do you see my ring?” I asked La Russa what he was talking about? La Russa stated, “I’m a hall of famer baseball person.” While placing him in the rear of my patrol vehicle, La Russa stated, “I’m legit. I’m a hall of famer brother. Your [sic] trying to embarrass me.” I advised La Russa that I will to embarrass him, and he would be treated with the utmost respect.”
La Russa, 76, hasn’t been treated with the utmost respect on the internet following news of his second DUI arrest. Since the news came out, this has turned into a full-fledged PR nightmare for the White Sox.
Earlier on Tuesday, free agent pitcher Marcus Stroman tweeted that there was no amount of money that would make him want to play for someone like La Russa. Now this tidbit makes the La Russa and the White Sox look even worse.
The White Sox reportedly knew about the incident and hired La Russa anyway, further casting a shadow over a choice that was met with plenty of skepticism before we learned about the DUI arrest. The question was whether the White Sox were hiring an older, out-of-touch manager who couldn’t relate to the White Sox’s exciting young core of players.
Everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours only seems to back up that criticism.
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