Lou's Last

Cubs’ skipper, Lou Piniella has retired from baseball after a half-century of being involved in the game. The abrupt announcement occurred Sunday at Wrigley Field, where Chicago was rocked 16-5 by the Atlanta Braves. Piniella’s Cubs are 23 games under .500 with 47 contests remaining, but the manager’s farewell has more to do with his ailing 90 year old mother. Piniella turns 67 this week and wants to spend more time with his family.
The Cubs’ enigmatic skipper was hotter than a deep dish pizza when he arrived in Chicago in 2006. Piniella led the Cubs to back-to-back postseason appearances in 2007 and 2008 for the first time in 100 years. The climax of Piniella’s tenure with Chicago was perhaps the 2008 NL division series with the Dodgers. Los Angeles swept the Cubs in three games, leaving fans to ponder what could have been for the hapless franchise.
Piniella is a former major league outfielder who spent time with the Orioles, Indians, Royals and Yankees. The Tampa, Florida native won the 1969 Rookie of the Year award. His New York days are most memorable because leadoff hitting Sweet Lou helped the Bombers win two championships while he donned the pinstripes. Piniella went on to coach the Yankees after his playing days were over in 1986 and had a brief stint at the general manager. Piniella also managed the 1990 World Series winning Cincinnati Reds before moving on to coach the Mariners, Rays and Cubs. One of the players most influenced by Sweet Lou was Paul O’Neill.
The Cubs did not make Sunday special on the field for their departing skipper. Chicago hurler, Randy Wells was charged with the loss after being tagged for seven runs. The Braves were led by rookie, Jason Heyward and Omar Infante as the division-leaders took two out of three at Wrigley. Infante and Heyward each blasted two homeruns as Atlanta piled on 11 runs over the final three innings. Derrek Lee, the former Chicago first baseman, drove in three runs to back pitcher Mike Minor. Minor allowed three runs on seven hits over five frames for the win.
Chicago third base coach, Mike Quade, was promoted to interim manager. Speculation is that Ryne Sandberg will be the next Cubs skipper, and nobody could be more thrilled about this than I am. I was an enormous fan of the former Chicago second baseman. It will be hard for any modern day manager to accumulate the accolades of Sweet Lou, however. Piniella finished his career with 1,835 managerial wins, trailing only active managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa. Piniella was a three-time manager of the year winner but despite his greatness, could not shake the curse of the Chicago Cubs. That challenge remains for the next skipper.

Parting Points: Song of the day- “Forever” by Mariah Carey

Good read- Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine”