Paul Sullivan: Tony La Russa’s old-school stance on Yermín Mercedes saga is baseball’s latest unwritten rules controversy, courtesy of White Sox

The Yermín Mercedes crisis continued with no end in sight Wednesday morning in Minneapolis.

The Chicago White Sox slugger was unavailable for comment after being thrown at by Minnesota Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey on Tuesday night for allegedly violating an unwritten rule Monday by homering on a 3-0 pitch in the ninth inning of a Sox blowout.

But Sox manager Tony La Russa said Wednesday he was surprised the incident is getting so much attention and defended his right to reprimand his star rookie for missing a take sign.

“I’m really surprised that I’m getting so many questions on this,” La Russa said during a teleconference dominated by questions about the incident. “So evidently there’s chatter about it. I’m not going to say (it’s) much ado about nothing, but much ado about a little bit.

“He missed a sign. By the way, if he misses a sign and it’s a 3-2 game, he would’ve been talked to because you don’t miss signs.”

The story has received national attention because of the game’s long-running debate over unwritten rules and whether they need to be updated to account for modern mores.

Add in a celebrity manager (La Russa), a lovable character (Mercedes) and a first-place team (the White Sox), and it’s what’s known in the news business as a story “with legs.”

During La Russa’s managerial hey-day, swinging at a 3-0 pitch in a rout was considered a mortal sin. Now it’s considered a venial sin at worst. Players tend to ignore the unwritten rules to try to pad their stats, which they use to get paid more. The fact the Twins had conceded the outcome of the game by using a position player to pitch also factored into the debate.

“If a position player is on the mound, there are no rules,” Sox starter Lance Lynn said after Tuesday’s loss. “Let’s get the damn game over with. And if you have a problem with whatever happened, then put a pitcher out there.”

Does having a position player in the game negate the unwritten rule of not swinging at a 3-0 pitch in a rout?

“It doesn’t, because Lance has a locker, I have an office,” La Russa said when apprised of Lynn’s comment. “And at some point, leadership is what you’re supposed to represent. If you asked Lance does he disrespect my opinion, I’ll take my chances with his answer.”

Lynn probably wasn’t disrespecting La Russa’s opinion so much as telling the Twins to pipe down.

La Russa reiterated he didn’t agree with Lynn’s opinion. He pointed to using Mercedes and Danny Mendick as pitchers in a game at Boston last month and said he never takes a bat out of a player’s hand, except on a 3-0 count.

“Sometimes the more complicated it is, the simpler you keep it,” he said of the rules. “What is today now? Our occupation is so simple. Our team against their team. Keep a score. There’s a winner and a loser. But the game of baseball demands that we both make our best effort. ...

“If we beat them, we’re pleased about it. We’ll celebrate a little bit. But if you’re going to tell me sportsmanship, respect for the game of baseball and respect for your opponent is not an important priority, I can’t disagree with you more.

“I don’t care what the mores change. I just don’t believe anybody that really understands (the game would disagree). Sometimes you have a young club, you explain to them, ‘Wait a minute fellas.’ ”

Before La Russa spoke about the incident Tuesday, Mercedes said he was just being himself and would not change. Some interpreted that as Mercedes saying he would do it again.

“What he was saying was that he has a flair when he plays,” La Russa said. “And I remember when I first got the (Sox) job, there was all kind of concern about that.”

La Russa was referring to early speculation he would tone down the Sox’s celebratory nature, particularly by cramping Tim Anderson’s style. Back in 2018, Anderson ticked off Justin Verlander and Salvador Perez for celebrating without the express written consent of major league veterans, leading general manager Rick Hahn to defend his character.

“Which is really what the whole ‘fun police’ thing is about, his character — (more) than anything that happens between the white lines,” Hahn said in ’18. “In terms of his enthusiasm, (it’s) fantastic. I’ll take 25 guys like that. In terms of guys who play with intensity and passion and joy, that’s wonderful.”

Anderson has since become the face of the Sox, and his vibrant personality made it easier for Mercedes to come in and be himself. Now Mercedes is one of the team’s most popular players.

Anderson on Wednesday morning tweeted: “don’t see and don’t hear… keep pushing.”

Mercedes agreed with Anderson, tweeting “Yeah yeah brotha” with two dynamite sticks.

La Russa said reports of him not allowing players to have fun could be refuted by the flair exhibited by his former Oakland Athletics players such as Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Henderson and Dave Parker. He reiterated he simply was telling Mercedes the slugger made a mistake.

“A young player made a mistake, which by the way he did and we need to acknowledge it,” La Russa said. “Did I say he was being ostracized, that we’re going to punish him? He’s playing today.

“Part of how you get better as a team, whether it’s fundamentally or mentally, is if something goes wrong you address it. If something is serious … everything is serious, but you don’t go publicly, I didn’t go talking about what I did. I actually did it in very positive way.

“I don’t think there is anything, and I am willing to bet there isn’t anybody in that clubhouse that was upset that I mentioned that that’s not the way we compete.”

And if someone in the clubhouse didn’t agree with La Russa, he said he didn’t hear about it.

“I walked around the clubhouse (Tuesday) night after the game and no one was giving me the Heisman,” La Russa said to a reporter, referring to the stiff arm of the Heisman trophy. “So I’m not sure where you’re coming from … But I think the team agrees, and we started it in spring training, this is how we play. Play hard, play the game right, play it with respect.”

Near the end of the teleconference, La Russa used an example of a manager giving a player a red light in a blowout when the player wanted to steal a base.

“The thing that was flagrant here was that the guy (Mercedes) hit a home run and made a lopsided score worse,” he said. “You run into these situations all the time where the manager makes decisions.”

La Russa said he didn’t blame players such as Mercedes or Fernando Tatis Jr. for thinking, “I’ve got to get more, I’ve got to get more” in those situation.

“But then you coach him up,” he said.

La Russa didn’t realize coaching up Mercedes would lead to a story with legs.

Now he knows.