I'm not finding the archived posts so here's what I can do from memory.
Game 1: Tony LaRussa never fought for home field advantage. Lance Lynn was put on the mound in game 1, coming off an injury. Lance Lynn had an ERA of >5 while pitching at Minute Maid Park, including being beaten there in 2021. However they wanted to do this, they needed to not have Lynn pitching at Minute Maid, it was a clear issue. They should have absolutely tried harder for home field advantage, and barring that, Lynn should have pitched game 3.
Game 1: Lance Lynn's gameplan was terrible. Lynn threw 6 offspeed pitches out of 70 pitches that game. The Astros were well coached and were prepared for his gameplan, which was not different from any of the other games he pitched during the year. This was a clear flaw. Feel free to hang this on the pitching coach too.
Game 2: If you go to the game 2 game thread, I say in there "The bullpen is fully rested. You cannot allow Lucas to have the lead and then lose this game without bringing in the bullpen." Lucas had the lead and LaRussa left him in to lose it once several runners got on.
Game 2: The White Sox's defensive positioning was utterly awful. Bummer in particular was victimized by this in game 2. I believe it cost Giolito on the tie/goahead run also. The difference between the Astros and White Sox during these games was staggering, every ground ball had a player just barely get to it for the Astros and just barely miss it for the White Sox.
Game 2: Garret Crochet pitched in back to back games 3 times all year. He never once pitched in a back to back situation without giving up a run. LaRussa used him in a blowout in game 1 for reasons no one understands. He then brought Crochet into the 5th inning of game 2, on back to back days, with runners on base, in what I believe was a tie game. Bummer did not pitch game 1 and was available. Crochet, just as he did the few times he was used that way during the year, was scored on. That was the winning run.
Game 2: LaRussa pinch hit Cesar Hernandez for reasons. Because of this move, Leury Garcia moved to RF. Leury Garcia had a key error on a ball off of Kimbrel that game, leading to the floodgates opening.
Game 4: Rodon was left in too long. He should not have been left in to face Correa in the key at bat where they took the lead. Once a runner got to 3rd, he was unwilling to use his slider because he didn't know if Grandal could block it (Correa himself said that if Rodon threw the slider he was toast). Rodon threw him either 3-4 straight fastballs and Correa knocked in the goahead runs on one of those. His fastball velocity was several mph slower than earlier in that same game, but somehow the manager missed this.
Game 4: Michael Kopech never once during the 2021 season threw 40+ pitches and then came back out to pitch 2 days later. Michael Kopech threw nearly 50 pitches in game 3. Tony LaRussa himself said Kopech was unavailable for game 4. Kopech was the first person out of the pen once Rodon gave up the hit to Correa, and no one ever asked LaRussa about the contradiction. He actually got out of that inning, and then LaRussa left him in for the next inning where he proceeded to be hit around, breaking the game open.
Game 4: Lance Lynn was available on normal rest for the spot where Kopech was sent out, including for the second inning. He never pitched that game.
There were more, but those are the ones burned into my memory. Every one of those games goes a different way with a competent manager, they may not win but LaRussa set them up horribly over and over and over. I honestly don't know which of these had the biggest impact on the series. Dusty Baker gave the White Sox game 3 with a ludicrous pinch hitting decision that was still the worst managerial move of that series. #s 2 through whatever were all LaRussa though.