Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Say what you want about Tony La Russa, but the guy never stops studying. Not even two weeks after he admitted he didn’t know the written rules, he impressed us all with his encyclopedic knowledge of the unwritten ones.
When the 76-year-old La Russa came out of retirement this season to manage the White Sox, some people wondered if the game had passed him by. He added to that impression earlier this month, when reporters had to explain to him that pitchers are not required to serve as free runners during extra innings.