Posts tagged LouPiniella at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

While Cubs manager Lou Piniella isn't as fiery as he used to be (he's been ejected from a game 61 times), he still will get tossed from a ball game from time to time. Of course, ever since Lou came to Chicago, he's lived up to his nickname as he's only been ejected from a game twice. The first time came back on June 2nd, 2007 when Sweet Lou gave us a classic performance that resulted in getting himself suspended for four games.

It also happened to coincide with the Cubs turning their season around, as they went 35-18 over their next 53 games to dig out of an early season rut (they were 22-31 before the ejection) and went on to win the division. Lou's second ejection came this past Sunday, and it also comes at a time when the Cubs are struggling, as they've lost four in a row for the first time all season.

Though if the Cubs win 10 of their next 11, Lou's performance probably shouldn't get the credit, as he never intended to put one on. No, according to Lou, he was ambushed as he went out to argue a checked swing by Joe Crede.

"I was talking to the first-base umpire about the checked swing, and I got ambushed from behind," Piniella said. "Well, then I got my money's worth ... I think. Probably not."

When Willie Randolph got fired as manager of the Mets, it created an opening on Clint Hurdle's coaching staff for next month's All-Star Game. The New York Post reports that he'll do so with a move that kills two birds with one stone. Lou Piniella, skipper of the NL-best Chicago Cubs will get the call.

Not only does Piniella deserve it based on his record this season, he also replaces Randolph as a NL manager with close ties to Yankee Stadium. The two men were teammates with the Yankees from 1976-1984 and Piniella managed Randolph for two seasons and change after that. The Post reports that MLB is trying to find a role that enables Randolph to still play a role in the festivities. Pitching batting practice has been suggested but I wouldn't spend too much time trying to figure out a spot for Randolph.

Sure, he's a Yankee notable but so are dozens of other former players who won't play any part in the Midsummer Classic. He wasn't going to be there because of his Yankee ties, he was going to be there as manager of the Mets. Even that seemed a courtesy extended to the other New York manager given the way the Mets were performing under his tutelage. It's too bad that he won't get to take part but, well, so it goes sometimes. If not for the way he lost his job, I doubt there'd even be much hand-wringing about Randolph's absence.

(H/T Metsblog)

I have a tradition. Every Sunday, I grab some coffee, sit in front of my computer, and read about retired infielder and current Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan. Sometimes I'll pore through his stats and realize I completely forgot that he hit .328 one year. Other days, I'll check to see whether the value of his rookie card has topped a nickel.

Today, though, was the most eventful Magaday yet! I learned that he and Lou Piniella are cousins, and that Piniella is his godfather! I celebrated my discovery by treating myself to a two-Pop-Tart dinner (I usually have just one).

This evening's Dugout is after the jump.

It's not quite Jonathan Papelbon in a Rastafarian wig doing "Blame it on the Rain," but the rap war between Ozzie Guillen's South Side Guys and Lou "Big Sweet" Piniella's North Side Guys has reached critical mass. Condescending insults have been the norm, but now the rivalry has lead to threats of physical violence. This has got to stop. Somebody needs to step in and regulate. Can't we all just get along?

This morning, we hope to get inside the mentality of these gangster rappers and come to some societal conclusions, and though we don't have the hilarious narrator from The History Channel's "Gangland" ("One day, he was leaving a Church's Chicken! when several Crips members surprised him") but we're doing the best with what we have.

Today's jump is real, naw'mean, after the jump. Ya feel me?

Honestly, there probably should have been two commas tossed the way of Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen for the abomination of a commercial that they star in below. The painful skinny: Lou and Ozzie, promoting the Chevy Crosstown Tent Event, engage in the most awkward rap off of all time. North Side versus South Side. Boy-e.



It was probably only a single comma, but there better have been at least two big figures in front of that thing, otherwise the destruction of their respective reputations wasn't worth it. But hey, at least baseball in Chicago isn't quickly becoming the single most annoying feature of 2008!

H/T: AA

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Los Angeles Angels (42-29) vs. New York Mets (34-35) - 10:05PM Est.

Now that Willie Randolph has finally be freed by the evil, classless, New York Mets, his replacement Jerry Manuel gets his first shot at pissing off Mets fans everywhere tonight. Will Jerry make it through 7AM Wednesday morning, or will he be dispatched in the middle of the night?

I mean, the Mets actually won last night, and they still fired Willie in the middle of the night. What would have happened had they lost? Would he have been publicly flogged in Times Square?

Besides, is Jerry Manuel really going to be any better? I had the "honor" of watching him manage my White Sox for five years, and although he won the manager of the year award in 2000, the rest of his tenure was basically known for being extremely boring. Though, maybe that's what Omar Minaya wants.

As Mr. Watson told you yesterday, the Seattle Mariners finally went ahead and did what we'd all been waiting for them to do for a few weeks now: they fired general manager Bill Bavasi. In other words, Monday was probably the best day that Seattle sports fans have had in a while, and a cause for celebration.

With the pending move of the Sonics, and the Mariners struggles this season, there hasn't been much to cheer about in the Emerald City lately. Still, while there's some debate in New York about the Mets firing Willie Randolph (was it deserved? did they go about it the right way? etc.), I don't think there's much debate amongst Mariners fans about how they feel for this move. If they're upset about anything, it's probably that Bavasi was the only one to go and that the team can't fire Richie Sexson.

As Watson mentioned in his post yesterday, Bavasi's tenure in Seattle is not one littered with success. He gave questionable contracts to Sexson, Carlos Silva, and Adrian Beltre (though I think Beltre has been a good addition to the club), actually gave Jeff Weaver $8 million to suck for a season, and made trades like sending Carlos Guillen to Detroit for Ramon Santiago. Those are some devastating moves, and yet, that's only part of what Bavasi did to help bring this organization down.

If Lou Piniella was feeling a little put out about having to spend an off-day in Cooperstown before, he must be ready to break bricks with his bare hands now. After all the hemming and hawing leading up to today's game, rain forced its cancellation this afternoon. I'm sure whatever Sweet Lou had to say about travelling to Cooperstown for a game that didn't happen was colorful but not at all printable on these pages.

It's a shame that the last Hall of Fame game didn't even get to be played. Even with both sides fielding minor league lineups, not that you'd notice the difference with the Padres, it was a nice tradition that spoke to a simpler time in baseball lore. That said, between the loss of an off-day and the pressure to expose regular players to injury, there probably aren't too many teams that are sad to see it go.

Earlier today, Tom Fornelli made a strong suggestion to Kristian Connelly who is leading a one-man effort to save the Hall of Fame game. Play it at the end of Spring Training between two teams who are going to be starting the regular season in the northeast anyway. No, it's not exactly the same thing as before but it keeps the tradition alive and assures that the (fictional) birthplace of baseball gets a game with major league teams every year.

Looking at the schedule for tonight, there's not much action going on around baseball as there are only five games on the menu tonight. What the schedule doesn't show, however, is that the Cubs and Padres will be playing in the Hall of Fame game this afternoon in Cooperstown.

Of course, since the game means nothing and the Cubs are trying to run away with the NL Central and the Padres are trying to get back into the NL West race, it's not entirely surprising that neither team is very excited about playing in the game. In fact, the Cubs have called up 16 players from their single-A team to fill out today's lineup card.

The fact that nobody wants to risk an injury to a key player in a meaningless game is what led to the player's union and the owners decided that this would be the last Hall of Fame game played last January, and that hasn't sat well with the game's supporters. Did I say supporters? I meant supporter.

Kristian Connelly has started the site savethefamegame.com in hopes of doing exactly that, saving the Hall of Fame game, and Connelly isn't exactly thrilled with Cubs manager Lou Piniella's comments lately lamenting the fact that his team has to play in it.

According to Ken Burns' classic documentary "Baseball," a sportswriter once wrote of Ty Cobb, "He would climb a mountain to punch an echo." It's an excellent piece of sentiment, but I kind of wish it had been saved to describe Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

Piniella's mug and gut managed to find their way to Google Maps via its Street Level feature. The shot catches him crossing Wrigleyville's Clark Street, presumably to punch an echo. Oh man. He's going to be so mad. Oh man.

Today's Dugout is after the jump.