Lou Piniella

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Lou Piniella
Outfielder, Manager
Born: August 28, 1943 (1943-08-28) (age 64)
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
Sept 4, 1964 for the Baltimore Orioles
Final game
June 16, 1984 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
AVG	.291
HR	102
RBI	766
Teams
As Player Baltimore Orioles (1964) Cleveland Indians (1968) Kansas City Royals (1969-1973) New York Yankees (1974-1984) As Manager New York Yankees (1986-1988) Cincinnati Reds (1990-1992) Seattle Mariners (1993-2002) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003-2005) Chicago Cubs (2007-Present)
Career highlights and awards
All-star in 1972 1969 AL Rookie of the Year Led AL in doubles in 1972 with 33 1995 and 2001 AL Manager of the Year World Series Champion: (1990)

Louis Victor Piniella (born August 28, 1943, in Tampa, Florida, United States) is the current manager of the Chicago Cubs and a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He has been nicknamed "Sweet Lou," both for his swing as a major league hitter and, facetiously, to describe his demeanor as a player and manager.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing career 3 Managerial career 3.1 New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds 3.2 Seattle Mariners 3.3 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3.4 Chicago Cubs 3.5 Managerial record 4 Awards 5 Broadcasting career 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Piniella grew up in West Tampa, Florida. His Asturian grandparents immigrated to Florida from Asturias, Spain. As a child, he played PONY League Baseball alongside Tony La Russa. He attended Jesuit High School of Tampa where he was an All-American in basketball. After graduation, he attended the University of Tampa where he was an All-American in baseball.

[edit] Playing career

Piniella, at the age of 21, played in his first major league game in 1964 with the Baltimore Orioles. At 24, his second major league season was with the Indians. He joined the Seattle Pilots during their 1969 preseason, but was quickly traded. He was prominently mentioned in Jim Bouton's classic book about the Seattle Pilots, Ball Four.

Piniella played for the Kansas City Royals from 1969-73, and was the American League's AL Rookie of the Year in 1969. He was the first player to come to bat in Royals history. On April 8 of their first season, he led off the bottom of the 1st against left-hander Tom Hall of the Minnesota Twins. He doubled to left field, then scored on an RBI single by Jerry Adair.

That was followed by 11 years as a member of the New York Yankees, where they won five AL East titles (1976-78, 1980 and 1981), four AL pennants (1976-78 and 1981), and two World Series championships (1977-78). After centerfielder Mickey Rivers was traded, during the 1979 season, Piniella became the Yankees leadoff hitter. One of the more underrated players of the 1970s (he made just one all star team), he compiled 1705 lifetime hits despite not playing full time for just under half of his career.

He wore uniform number 24 for the Orioles, and 23 for the Indians. His longer stretches were wearing number 9 for the Royals, and 14 for the Yankees.

[edit] Managerial career

[edit] New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds

After retiring as a player, Piniella managed the Yankees from 1986 to 1987 and for most of 1988 before briefly serving as the club's general manager for the rest of the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Piniella managed the Cincinnati Reds between 1990 and 1992, a tenure that included winning the 1990 World Series against the heavily-favored Oakland Athletics.

[edit] Seattle Mariners

From 1993-2002, he managed the Seattle Mariners, winning the AL Manager of the Year Award in 1995, and again in 2001 when he led the Mariners to a record-tying 116 wins. After winning the 2001 AL Division Series, the Mariners dropped the first two games of the AL Championship Series, and Piniella held an angry post-game press conference in which he guaranteed the Mariners would win two out of three games in New York to return the ALCS to Seattle. However, the Yankees closed out the series at Yankee Stadium, and the Mariners have not reached the playoffs since. Following the 2002 season, Piniella was included in a rare "trade" that sent him to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with outfielder Randy Winn going to Seattle.

In the Mariners' 30-season history, they have had nine winning seasons and reached the playoffs four times. Seven of the winning seasons and all of the playoff appearances occurred during Piniella's ten years with the Mariners.

Piniella is the only manager in Mariners history to have a winning record in his tenure with the team, while serving at least one season.

In a game in the 2002 season, Pinella came out to argue a call and was immediately tossed after throwing down his hat. Afterwards, he kicked his hat several times, aggressively approached the umpire, and kicked dirt on the umpire as well. He then ripped first base from the diamond then threw it down the right field foul line twice after he imitated the umpire tossing him out.

[edit] Tampa Bay Devil Rays

In his first two seasons with the Devil Rays, Piniella was able to improve the team somewhat, and they won a franchise-record 70 games in 2004, which was also their first season in which they did not finish last in their division, which he also guaranteed (he also jokingly said, after saying it several times, "If I say it any more times I might have us winning the World Series!".) During the 2005 season, Piniella was very critical of Devil Rays front office for focusing too much on the future and not enough on immediate results, and for not increasing payroll quickly enough to field a competitive team (they started the season with a $30 million payroll, which was the lowest in the major leagues; the Yankees payroll in 2005 was over $208 million).

Tensions eventually made Piniella step down as the Devil Rays' manager on September 21, 2005. Sweet Lou had one more season remaining on his contract from October 2002, but agreed to a $2.2 million buyout, in lieu of $4.4 million that he was due, had he decided to manage the team for one more season. He would have also received $1.25 million in deferred salary from 2003.

[edit] Chicago Cubs

On October 16, 2006, Piniella agreed to a three-year contract to manage the Chicago Cubs. The contract is for $10 million over three seasons with a $5 million option for a fourth year ^[1]

Famous for his anger and meltdowns, he showed it during a press conference after a Cubs-Reds game on April 13, 2007 when Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano blew a five run lead in the 5th inning in which the Reds scored 6 runs, winning the game 6-5. A reporter asked him what was not working for the Cubs. He responded in a loud, angry voice, "What the hell do you think isn't working?! You saw the damn game! … This guy is your ace, you got a 5-0 lead with the eighth and ninth hitters coming up, you feel pretty good about that inning and all of a sudden it turns into a six-run inning,” Piniella said, obviously still agitated but calmer. “And then I bring in the reliever who’s throwing 30-to-40-foot curveballs to boot. I can see. I can start to see some of the ways this team has lost ballgames. I can see it. We’ve got to correct it obviously. This game here is one that got away from us that really shouldn’t.” In a similar meltdown after the May 17, 2007, game against the Mets, Lou stated, "I don't care about feelings".

On June 2, 2007, Piniella was ejected as a Cub for the first time, after throwing down his hat, kicking dirt at umpire Mark Wegner, and kicking his hat three times. He was arguing a call that Angel Pagan was out at third attempting to advance on a wild pitch. In the post-game press conference, he said Pagan looked safe from the dugout, but acknowledged that, after seeing the replay, the umpire made the right call. However, he also said he was going to argue no matter if Pagan was safe or out: "it didn't make a damn bit of difference." He was suspended for four games, the longest of his career. Though the full effects of the display cannot be substantiated, the Cubs - 22-31 in their 53 games through June 2nd - went 35-18 over the subsequent 53 games, and went on from there to capture the National League Central Division title.

Known for his often aggressive and sometimes explosive behavior, Piniella is one of the most-ejected managers in major league history with 60 career ejections, only one behind long-time friend and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.^[2] He had a reputation for being less than patient with pitchers, often sending his pitching coach to remove them from the game. He even got into a clubhouse scuffle with pitcher Rob Dibble while with the Reds which was caught on video, ending with the two being pulled apart and Lou screaming, "You don't want to be treated like a man!"

[edit] Managerial record

Team	Year	Regular Season				Post Season
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
NYY	1986	90	72	.556	2nd in AL East	-	-	-	-
NYY	1987	89	73	.549	3rd in AL East	-	-	-	-
NYY	1988	45	48	.484	5th in AL East	-	-	-	-
CIN	1990	91	71	.562	1st in NL West	8	2	.800	Won World Series
CIN	1991	74	88	.457	5th in NL West	-	-	-	-
CIN	1992	90	72	.556	2nd in NL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1993	82	80	.506	4th in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1994	49	63	.438	3rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1995	79	66	.545	1st in AL West	5	6	.455	Lost ALCS
SEA	1996	85	76	.528	2nd in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1997	90	72	.556	1st in AL West	1	3	.250	Lost ALDS
SEA	1998	76	85	.472	3rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1999	79	83	.488	3rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	2000	91	71	.562	2nd in AL West	5	4	.556	Lost ALCS
SEA	2001	116	46	.716	1st in AL West	4	6	.400	Lost ALCS
SEA	2002	93	69	.574	3rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
TB	2003	63	99	.389	5th in AL East	-	-	-	-
TB	2004	70	91	.435	4th in AL East	-	-	-	-
TB	2005	67	95	.414	5th in AL East	-	-	-	-
CHC	2007	85	77	.525	1st in NL Central	0	3	.000	Lost NLDS
NYY Total		224	193	.537	-	-	-	-	-
CIN Total		255	231	.525	-	8	2	.800	-
SEA Total		840	711	.542	-	15	19	.441	-
TB Total		200	285	.412	-	-	-	-	-
CHC Total		85	77	.525	-	0	3	.000	-
Career Total		1,604	1,497	.517	-	23	21	.523	-

[edit] Awards

• 1969 - AL Rookie of the Year
• 1972 - AL All-Star
• 1995 - AL Manager of the Year
• 2001 - AL Manager of the Year

[edit] Broadcasting career

After parting ways with the Devil Rays, Piniella spent one season as a color commentator for Fox Sports, joining Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons in calling postseason baseball games.

During their broadcast of Game 3 of the 2006 American League Championship Series, Piniella was commenting on player Marco Scutaro who had struggled during the regular season but was playing well during the series. He stated that to expect Scutaro to continue playing well would be similar to finding a wallet on Friday and expecting to find another wallet on Saturday and Sunday. Piniella then commented that player Frank Thomas needed to get "en fuego" which is Spanish for "on fire", because he was "frio" meaning "cold". Lyons responded by saying that Piniella was "hablaing ^[sic] Español" and added,"I still can't find my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now."^[3]

FOX fired Lyons for making the above remarks, which FOX determined to be racially insensitive.^[4] Piniella later defended Lyons saying Lyons was "kidding" and that "There isn't a racist bone in his [Lyons'] body.^[5].

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008

[edit] References

1. ^ Cubs come to terms with Piniella,MLB.com.
2. ^ Devil Rays Managers and Coaches page
3. ^ Lyons fired by Fox,The Boston Globe
4. ^ Fox fires baseball announcer Steve Lyons after racially insensitive comment,USA Today
5. ^ Fired Baseball Announcer Lyons Finds Support, IMDb

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics and managing record
• Baseball Almanac
• BaseballLibrary.com - career highlights
• Piniella, Rays Parting Ways - Tampa Tribune

Accomplishments
Preceded by Stan Bahnsen American League Rookie of the Year 1969 Succeeded by Thurman Munson Preceded by Buck Showalter Jerry Manuel American League Manager of the Year 1995 2001 Succeeded by Joe Torre & Johnny Oates Mike Scioscia

Managerial jobs

Preceded by Billy Martin New York Yankees Manager 1986–1987 Succeeded by Billy Martin Preceded by Billy Martin New York Yankees Manager 1988 Succeeded by Dallas Green Preceded by Tommy Helms Cincinnati Reds Manager 1990–1992 Succeeded by Tony Pérez Preceded by Bill Plummer Seattle Mariners Manager 1993–2002 Succeeded by Bob Melvin Preceded by Hal McRae Tampa Bay Devil Rays Manager 2003–2005 Succeeded by Joe Maddon Preceded by Dusty Baker Chicago Cubs Manager 2007– Succeeded by Incumbent v • d • e New York Yankees managers Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902) McGraw • Robinson New York Highlanders (1903-1912) Griffith • Elberfeld • Stallings • Chase • Wolverton New York Yankees (1913-present) Chance • Peckinpaugh • Donovan • Huggins • Fletcher • Shawkey • McCarthy • Neun • Dickey • Harris • Stengel • Houk • Berra • Keane • Houk • Virdon • Martin • Lemon • Martin • Howser • Michael • Lemon • Michael • King • Martin • Berra • Martin • Piniella • Martin • Piniella • Green • Dent • Merrill • Showalter • Torre • Girardi v • d • e Cincinnati Reds managers Gould • Pike • Addy • Manning • McVey • White • Clapp • Snyder • White • Caylor • Schmelz • Loftus • Comiskey • Ewing • Allen • McPhee • Bancroft • Kelley • Hanlon • Ganzel • Griffith • O'Day • Tinker • Herzog • Wingo • Mathewson • Groh • Moran • Hendricks • Howley • Bush • O'Farrell • Shotton • Dressen • Wallace • McKechnie • Gowdy • Neun • Walters • Sewell • Hornsby • Tebbetts • Dykes • Smith • Hutchinson • Sisler • Heffner • Bristol • Anderson • McNamara • Nixon • Rapp • Rose • Helms • Piniella • Pérez • Johnson • Knight • McKeon • Boone • Miley • Narron • Mackanin • Baker v • d • e Seattle Mariners managers Johnson • Wills • Lachemann • Crandall • Cottier • Williams • Lefebvre • Plummer • Piniella • Melvin • Hargrove • McLaren v • d • e Tampa Bay Rays managers Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2007) Rothschild • McRae • Piniella • Maddon Tampa Bay Rays (2008-present) Maddon v • d • e Chicago Cubs managers Chicago White Stockings (1870-1889) Spalding • Ferguson • Flint • Anson Chicago Colts (1890-1897) Anson Chicago Orphans (1898-1901) Burns • Loftus Chicago Cubs (1902-present) Selee • Chance • Evers • O'Day • Bresnahan • Tinker • Mitchell • Evers • Killefer • Maranville • Gibson • McCarthy • Hornsby • Grimm • Hartnett • Wilson • Johnson • Grimm • Frisch • Cavarretta • Hack • Scheffing • Grimm • Boudreau • College of Coaches • Kennedy • Klein • Durocher • Lockman • Marshall • Franks • Gómez • Amalfitano • Elia • Fox • Frey • Vukovich • Michael • Lucchesi • Zimmer • Altobelli • Essian • Lefebvre • Trebelhorn • Riggleman • Baylor • Kimm • Baker • Piniella  v • d • e Current Major League Baseball managers AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST DIVISION 47 Trembley (Baltimore) 47 Francona (Boston) 27 Girardi (N.Y. Yankees) 70 Maddon (Tampa Bay) 5 Gibbons (Toronto) CENTRAL DIVISION 13 Guillén (Chi. White Sox) 22 Wedge (Cleveland) 10 Leyland (Detroit) 22 Hillman (Kansas City) 35 Gardenhire (Minnesota) WEST DIVISION 14 Scioscia (L.A. Angels) 53 Geren (Oakland) 8 McLaren (Seattle) 38 Washington (Texas) NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION 6 Cox (Atlanta) 33 González (Florida) 12 Randolph (N.Y. Mets) 41 Manuel (Philadelphia) 14 Acta (Washington) CENTRAL DIVISION 41 Piniella (Chi. Cubs) 12 Baker (Cincinnati) 15 Cooper (Houston) 3 Yost (Milwaukee) 7 Russell (Pittsburgh) 10 La Russa (St. Louis) WEST DIVISION 3 Melvin (Arizona) 13 Hurdle (Colorado) 6 Torre (L.A. Dodgers) 20 Black (San Diego) 15 Bochy (San Francisco)

v • d • e New York Yankees 1977 World Series roster
2 Paul Blair | 6 Roy White | 9 Graig Nettles | 10 Chris Chambliss | 11 Fred Stanley | 14 Lou Piniella | 15 Thurman Munson | 17 Mickey Rivers | 19 Dick Tidrow | 20 Bucky Dent | 24 Mike Torrez | 25 George Zeber | 28 Sparky Lyle | 29 Catfish Hunter | 30 Willie Randolph | 35 Don Gullett | 41 Cliff Johnson | 44 Reggie Jackson | 49 Ron Guidry | 50 Ken Clay Manager 1 Billy Martin

v • d • e New York Yankees 1978 World Series roster

2 Paul Blair | 6 Roy White | 9 Graig Nettles | 10 Chris Chambliss | 11 Fred Stanley | 12 Jim Spencer | 14 Lou Piniella | 15 Thurman Munson | 17 Mickey Rivers | 19 Dick Tidrow | 20 Bucky Dent | 24 Gary Thomasson | 25 Brian Doyle | 27 Jay Johnstone | 29 Catfish Hunter | 31 Ed Figueroa | 36 Paul Lindblad | 41 Cliff Johnson | 43 Ken Clay | 44 Reggie Jackson | 45 Jim Beattie | 46 Mike Heath | 49 Ron Guidry | 54 Goose Gossage Manager 21 Bob Lemon

v • d • e Cincinnati Reds 1990 World Series roster

7 Mariano Duncan | 9 Joe Oliver | 10 Luis Quinones | 11 Barry Larkin | 12 Billy Bates | 15 Glenn Braggs | 16 Ron Oester | 17 Chris Sabo | 18 Jeff Reed | 20 Danny Jackson | 21 Paul O'Neill | 22 Billy Hatcher | 23 Hal Morris | 25 Todd Benzinger | 27 José Rijo | 28 Randy Myers | 29 Herm Winningham | 32 Tom Browning | 37 Norm Charlton | 40 Jack Armstrong | 44 Eric Davis | 47 Scott Scudder | 49 Rob Dibble | 53 Tim Birtsas | 55 Tim Layana Manager 41 Lou Piniella

v • d • e American League Rookie of the Year Award

1949: Sievers | 1950: Dropo | 1951: McDougald | 1952: Byrd | 1953: Kuenn | 1954: Grim | 1955: Score | 1956: Aparicio | 1957: Kubek | 1958: Pearson | 1959: Allison | 1960: Hansen | 1961: Schwall | 1962: Tresh | 1963: Peters | 1964: Oliva | 1965: Blefary | 1966: Agee | 1967: Carew | 1968: Bahnsen | 1969: Piniella | 1970: Munson | 1971: Chambliss | 1972: Fisk | 1973: Bumbry | 1974: Hargrove | 1975: Lynn | 1976: Fidrych | 1977: Murray | 1978: Whitaker | 1979: Castino/Griffin | 1980: Charboneau | 1981: Righetti | 1982: Ripken, Jr. | 1983: Kittle | 1984: Davis | 1985: Guillen | 1986: Canseco | 1987: McGwire | 1988: Weiss | 1989: Olson | 1990: Alomar, Jr. | 1991: Knoblauch | 1992: Listach | 1993: Salmon | 1994: Hamelin | 1995: Cordova | 1996: Jeter | 1997: Garciaparra | 1998: Grieve | 1999: Beltran | 2000: Sasaki | 2001: Suzuki | 2002: Hinske | 2003: Berroa | 2004: Crosby | 2005: Street | 2006: Verlander | 2007: Pedroia

v • d • e American League Manager of the Year Award

1983: La Russa | 1984: Anderson | 1985: Cox | 1986: McNamara | 1987: Anderson | 1988: La Russa | 1989: Robinson | 1990: Torborg | 1991: Kelly | 1992: La Russa | 1993: Lamont | 1994: Showalter | 1995: Piniella | 1996: Torre & Oates | 1997: Johnson | 1998: Torre | 1999: Williams | 2000: Manuel | 2001: Piniella | 2002: Scioscia | 2003: Peña | 2004: Showalter | 2005: Guillén | 2006: Leyland | 2007: Wedge

v • d • e Chicago Cubs current roster

1 Kosuke Fukudome | 2 Ryan Theriot | 4 Eric Patterson | 5 Ronny Cedeño | 7 Mark DeRosa | 9 Jake Fox | 12 Alfonso Soriano | 16 Aramis Ramírez | 17 Mike Fontenot | 18 Geovany Soto | 19 Matt Murton | 20 Félix Pie | 21 Jason Marquis | 22 Kevin Hart | 24 Henry Blanco | 25 Derrek Lee | 27 Sam Fuld | 30 Ted Lilly | 32 Jon Lieber | 33 Daryle Ward | 34 Kerry Wood | 36 Sean Gallagher | 37 Ángel Guzmán | 38 Carlos Zambrano | 43 Michael Wuertz | 45 Sean Marshall | 46 Ryan Dempster | 47 Scott Eyre | 48 Neal Cotts | 49 Carlos Mármol | 50 Jeff Samardzija | 51 Juan Mateo | 52 Tim Lahey | 53 Rich Hill | 56 Billy Petrick | 58 José Ascanio | 59 Adam Harben | 62 Bob Howry | 63 Carmen Pignatiello Manager: 41 Lou Piniella | Bench Coach: 3 Alan Trammell | First Base Coach: 39 Matt Sinatro | Third Base Coach: 8 Mike Quade | Hitting Coach: 28 Gerald Perry | Pitching Coach: 40 Larry Rothschild | Bullpen Coach: 35 Lester Strode | Sp. Asst. 11 Iván DeJesús