Tony La Russa has been making some… bizarre calls, to say the least. The Chicago White Sox manager has long been known to have some unique approaches to managing in the modern era. One of his most infamous plays is his preference of intentionally walking a batter even when he's ahead in the count.

On Friday night, La Russa did the thing again. In the seventh inning, with runners on second and third and two outs, Jake Diekman was ahead in his matchup against Cleveland Guardians hitter Oscar Gonzales. He was already up 1-2 in the count, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the White Sox manager called for the intentional walk.

Yes, Tony La Russa, needing just one more strike to retire the Guardians, called for an intentional walk. The intentional walk just so happened to load the bases. Needless to say, the White Sox announced were just as confused as everyone watching the game. (via Eloy's Mom)

Thankfully (or maybe not), La Russa's bizarre gambit worked. The Guardians brought in a pinch hitter in righty Owen Miller, but the White Sox brought out Jimmy Lambert to trade places with Diekman. In the end, Miller flied out, and La Russa was spared from the massive flaming he could've gotten for his decision-making.

The craziest part about all this is that La Russa has pulled this exact same stunt once, and it didn't work back then. The White Sox manager did this against the Dodgers, intentionally walking Trea Turner on a 1-2 count. It immediately backfired, as Max Muncy would hit a three-run homer almost immediately to punish his mistake. Why La Russa thought it was still a good idea after it failed spectacularly is anyone's guess. But hey, it worked this time around…