Full Court Press

I don't think Lou will last the season.He seems to have lost hold of this "team". Sweeping the Brewers would be a big help right about now,but I don't see that happening.It would not suprise me,though, that they did start playing better without Lou because MLB suspends him for a couple games.Lou's act is wearing out quickly,I really thought the guy was going to be the answer to our problems.But,alas,He's been "cubbed"

How in the world can you blame Pinella, who has been on the job for all of say 1/3 of a season, for the Cubs' failure to play fundamentally sound baseball? I have been a baseball fan since the mid-1960's and cannot remember a single Cubs' team that EVER played anything close to something resembling "fundamentally sound baseball". Quick, someone name me a poorer fielding outfielder than either Dave Kingman or Keith Moreland? I long ago concluded that the Cubs' baseball ineptness is an institutional problem which no manager could possibly correct in 1/3 of a season, especially given that Lou is following perhaps the most fundamentally inept manager of all time: Dusty "Hey Dudes, is this a serious press conference? Let me bring out my little kid to use as a shield" Baker. Give Lou a chance - his teams have never historically failed to play sound fundamental baseball and I just can't imagine him settling for less here.

Roman responds: How long do you give him? A season? Or does he just get a pass? How long before he can settle on one lineup? This isn't Tampa Bay. This is one of the biggest payrolls in the majors. True, some of the money may have been spent unwisely, but Lou knew what he was getting. This isn't Dusty's fault anymore.

Before Lou makes another attempt at imitating the late Billy Martin's umpire discussion etiquette maybe he should try actually managing and coaching his team to a respectable record.

Roman all I can say is 'BRAVO'! Well said in your response to Baseball fan. Folks want to put everything on Dusty, when he is NO WHERE near the team. That being said, I don't think you can blame Lou for anything except lying. Its the players fault. Same with the Sox. Lou, Ozzie and Baker are great Managers. Ozzie and Lou get the edge because they are willing to leave no stone unturned, and you have to love that. They might go down, but not without expending every possible option at their disposal. When you can make 5 suggestions about what you would have done, that manager has been outthought by a fan. There is no room for that with Pinella and Ozzie. It would be great to win them all, but its just not possible all the time. I feel better knowing that person tried his VERY BEST. That also goes for Hendry and Williams. They tried and have to make some more moves.

Hey, Roman, you called Lou's dirt dance a "clown act" and were absolutely correct. However, you have to admit it provided some needed comic relief. Marshall didn't get the shut-out I'd hoped for but he came close. Now if the Lou-less Cubs can win three at Miller Park, they'll only be four and a half games back with lots of time to start playing up to their expected potential. Then everyone will claim Lou is a genius for his beautifully choreographed "clown act."

Roman responds: You're right, it was beautifully choreographed. The only thing missing was tossing the base. Maybe in August.

up here in the pacific northwest lou is an institution. would love to have him back. baseball has just become too serious. in fact it has become just boring. the folks at the top don't want emotion in the game anymore. they use the excuse it makes the game to long. what makes the game too long are the television commercials between innings, hitters playing with their batting gloves between pitches and having to get back into the batter's box for every pitch. if batters had to remain in the batter's box except on a brush back pitch you would be amazed how fast the game would progress. we would then have time for protests on pitches both by the pitcher and the hitter and for rubarbs on the bases. watching today's games compared to those in the '50's and '60's takes away the need for nodoze.

jim werner

Roman responds: Tell you what, I watched the Yanks-Red Sox on Sunday and I wasn't bored at all. And neither manager made a jackass of himself.

As I listen to most of these Cub fans talk I dont hear the same comments that I heard when Dusty was here. All I hear is as at least there is fire in the dugout now. But what does fire has to do with anything when you dont have talent. Thats what Cub fans dont understand. You can holler and kick dirt all you want but thats not going to make a bad player play well. The Cubs dont pick talented players and then they want the manager to make them into All-Stars. It doesnt work. The post game press conferences that Lou does are a joke. This guys makes no sense and almost sounds drunk. But as bad as he sounds and and bad as this team is he wont get pounded by the north side fans and talk sports radio like Dusty was. Guys on talk radio would devote whole shows to Dusty and how he is the reason the Cubs cant field and run the bases. I wonder why Cub fans are like that?

Roman responds: No question you're right. And it's funny about the postgame news conference observation, because a friend of mine also said he looks drunk. I'm sure he's not, but he does have that look.
And the thing about comparisons to Dusty should include the fact Dusty wasn't given a full pitching staff. He was forced to depend on Wood and Prior. Lou's been given new pitchers and one of the most potent offensive weapons in the league. And he still gets a pass. It's only 1/3 of the season, someone said. Like with that payroll he should be given the full season to get to know the team. This isn't Tampa Bay.

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given that Lou is following perhaps the most fundamentally inept manager of all time: Dusty "Hey Dudes, is this a serious press conference? Let me bring out my little kid to use as a shield" Baker. Give Lou a chance

Posted by: Baseball fan - but not Cub fan. | June 4, 2007 07:10 AM
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Hey Baseball fan - but not a Cub fan, what does Dusty & his little kid has to do with the Cubbies failure at this particular point in time or their failure 96 years before he arrived? Oh, I know, blame it on the Black guy for 100 years of ineptness....lol...

Have a good one Roman, don't you just love these Baseball fans? tongue-in-cheek-smirk if only this knucklehead could see me...lol

I can't believe the Cubs are paying someone $4 million a year to say things like, "You keep asking when I'm gonna get thrown out of a game? I think it will be soon!" Pinella is just a bad fit. Joe Giradi would have taken Zambrano and Barrett to the clubhouse and beat the crap out of both of them.

The fact of the matter is that Lou was not the right choice but this team was also not the right choice. Lou blew up simply because the team around him is garbage and it finally came to a head on Saturday. This goes beyond Lou Pinella and right into the front office, starting with Jim Hendry. He put this "team" together and handcuffed the Cubs financially for the next 5 years simply to save his job. I understand that he wants the team to be competitive immediately so that he can look good but his moves in the off season were so silly! We all knew that Soriano swings and misses at everything, yet JH decides he wants him in the leadoff spot?! C'mon! Not only that but he needlessly throws millions at mediocre pitchers (you think Lilly and Marquis can keep doing what they're doing now for years to come?) He's so stubborn in his approach to the game that he doesn't even look at stats like OBP and slugging. Yet he keeps going with the same philosophy even though it hasn't worked in...well, ever! Great job Hendry! Enjoy your next job at the BK and to all Cubs fans, pray that whoever buys the Cubs actually knows how to build a franchise from the ground up.

Mr. Modrowski, the problem isn't that 'he' didn't know what 'he' was getting into. It is 'they' didn't know what 'they' were getting. Clearly, If 'he' were to be tried for anything 'he' would not be fit to stand trial. He of course, is not fundementally sound. Anymore.

Hey Roman. You said that this is not Tampa Bay?
You are right about that. The fans in Tampa do not dance in the streets and get excited about losing baseball year after year.

Roman responds: Well, if all of Tampa's fans did decide to dance in the streets, they wouldn't need a very long street. Maybe an alley.

Lou's plan to take the heat off his battling players backfired. It turned out to be quite an embarassing performance. What a sight; a middle aged, out of shape, angry guy losing it in the most unspontaneous fashion. He must have said before the game "Please umps give me a chance today , it's time for me to give the fans one of my patented tantrums". Pure entertainment to distract the fans from the horror on the playing field. It wasn't even a bad call that started it! So far Lou has been a big dissapointment. Oblivious to the rifts on the team, ripping the players, while not so innocently standing by as the team plays like Little Leaguers on the field. He's turning into Leo Durocher. Jr.

After watching the Cubs follies in first part of Brewer game makes you wonder if these guys are all smoking something? How can a professional ballplayer continue to break his pass ball record ?How can a player not catch a ball right in his glove ? How can entire infield look in a bubble as a routine pop up drops between them? These are the 300 million dollar cubs! This game fortunately ended up different then most. But the un.fundamental cub play continues. Dusty is probably smiling someplace! Lou has a improve team on paper & he actually has them playing worse! The real culprits Hendry & Rothschild its amazing still have jobs. The bullpen is a joke & Hendry did everything except to improve the pen .I written this many times. Cubs must rid themselves of players who can't do the job,period! Mainly Jones,Barrett & Eyre!I think Lou at least shows he's not happy with cubs inept play. At least he's not sitting in dugout chewing on a toothpick. But I don't blame Dusty & this season is living proof why.

Getting a bit tweaky are we, Roman? Tampa Bay fans ( both of them ) can always go to Busch Gardens and toast the Cardinals over free beer at the hospitality center, but only two glasses per visit. One down, two to go at the Busch rival stadium called Miller Park.
Good to see Soriano give us a glimpse of why he's making the big bucks.Lily tonight. Do the Cubs have too many lefties?

"Contrived, premeditated carnival act?" Yes. And I am glad. By Lou doing so people (like you) now focus your frustration on him and not the players. "Promising to field a fundamentally sound club and then completely failing to deliver” I don't know if that was Lou's exact quote. He can try to field one, he can push for it, but it’s up to the players unless Lou is planning to end his retirement and will join them on the field. Lou’s antics were calculated to take the negative spot light off the players and put it on him. This gives his players a chance to play their way out of it. In the end, the play on the field is what is going to make a difference; all Lou can do is do his best to help enable it.

Roman responds: Nobody forgot about the fight. I'm sure many people coupled the fight with Lou's act and perceived the Cubs to be a bigger mess than previously imagined.

when will cub fans stop going to games. what will it take? management does not care . i will not go to that park and pay those outrageous prices to watch a team that fights in the clubhouse but not on the field . i use to be a cubs fan but have learned . wake up fans,. boycott wrigley field for 1 game . i can dream cant i?

This is dumb. While some fault does go to the manager, you can't expect a guy to turn around 100 years of futility in 10 weeks.

Furthermore, I love how you descibe the argument as a premeditated carnival act. I am sure that if Lou DIDN'T go out and argue that call, you would be complaining that he isn't doing anything to take attetion away from his players, he isn't putting a fire under them. Why not go out and throw some bases, you would say. So, he can't win either way.

As far as Dusty Baker goes, he WAS given a GREAT pitching staff when he got here. If I remember 2003 correctly: Wood & Prior had awesome years and Dusty rode them to the playoff and into the ground. Eveyone LOVED Dusty in 2003 and 2004. "In Dusty we Trusty" T-shirts were everywhere. I've never seen a manager loved in this town more than him.

But, when the Cubs and Dusty blew it at the end of 2004, and continued to make boneheaded plays for the next TWO YEARS, the fans start to blame the manager. And usually rightfully so. Does Dusty deserve all the blame? Of course not. but he certainly deserves some of it.

Is Lou getting a free pass right now? Of course, because he just became the manager! And he's been given a great pitching staff? Have you seen the bullpen perform this year?

Roman responds: In my life, I've never said "Why doesn't that coach or manager throw a childish temper tantrum right now?'' You know what the players do when they see that, they laugh at him.
And I'm not saying Dusty was a good manager, I'm just saying after taking a team that was lousy in 2002 to within five outs of the Series, he was thrown under the bus pretty quickly.
And again, I'm asking how long do you give Lou, who's making over $3 million to win this season, a pass? Do you give him an entire season to get to know this team with the huge payroll? How long?

Obviously, you don't want the manager to throw a childish temper tantrum. However, it wasn't a question of "if" but a question of "when" Lou would blow his top. Was it preplanned? probably to a certain degree, but it probably took some pressure off his players. His fire and wearing his emotions on his sleeve are why he was hired in the first place. So, have you ever said, "why doesn't this coach light a fire under these guys" - which was what Lou was trying to do. Did he go too far? Yes, but the intent was in the right place.

I am not interested in giving anyone a "pass" at all. but he needs to learn his team. Do you want to fire him? What moves has he made that have been questionable? You point to the everchanging line-up. Well, your paper reports that he is now going to a more set line-up.

It is not Pinella's fault that the bullpen has been completely disappointing, especially since they were one of the "strengths" of a 66 win ballclub in 2006. Its not his fault that Jacque Jones has 2 homeruns and can't throw the ball to 2nd on a fly. Is it his fault that Izturis is nowhere near the player he was in LA? His willingness to play everybody has allowed for the emergence of Theriot as a homegrown everyday player.

I'm not saying that I agree with all of his moves (every time I see Izturis's name in the lineup, I cringe), but you aren't even allowing for some growing pains. Moreover, the players themselves need to be held accountable.

THEN you say that Dusty was quickly thrown under the bus after 2003? it was THREE YEARS LATER! The team went form a 3-1 series lead in the National League Championship Series to a last place joke. So yeah, the fans turned on the manager (just as it now is turning on the GM). you want to throw Pinella under the bus after 10 weeks - after taking over a team that won 66 games last year....

Roman responds: J.O., no I don't want Piniella fired, although I'm not sure he would mind an early retirement. My original point is that his tantrum was a premeditated clown act. Period. It was embarrassing. It wasn't even new. I thought I was watching a "The Best of Lou Losing It'' video. I don't think that lights a fire under the players. I've covered enough teams, including a bunch of Cubs games last season, to know how players react. They laugh at a manager like that, especially during losing times. I think he did it to entertain the fans and to act like he's trying to motivate his players. There's a difference.
And yes, Dusty was able to finish out his contract, but everyone turned on him in '04, and for good reason. It was maybe the most disappointing season in Cubs history. Why wasn't Dusty given a grace period for taking the team that close to the Series? Was it his fault Alex Gonzalez couldn't turn an easy double play? Was it his fault Prior unraveled after the Bartman incident? My point is if you're going to blame one manager for stupid mistakes, you have to blame every manager. What about all the ridiculous baserunning this season? What about Lou's famous flip-flop on Dempster as starter? That was embarrassing, too. You're right, Jacque Jones stinks, so why did Lou send down Pie? Let him sink or swim here.
And again, this is the major leagues. You don't get a season to learn your team. This isn't Tampa Bay, which hired Lou to start turning things around. The Cubs hired Lou to take them to the World Series THIS YEAR.

Roman, I agree with you most of the time and I agree that Piniella's act was premeditated. That's not news, he admitted it. Do I wish he hadn't done it? Yes. But the players that were interviewed(D. Lee and Soriano to name two) said they were glad he backed his players. Let's not forget two of the best managers in history have been thrown out probably twice as many times as Lou, Bobby Cox and Earl Weaver. And Weaver put on a better show than Lou. Is it childish and immature? Yes. Does it help the team? Sometimes. I'm told all the idiodic stuff Ozzie Guillen does is to take pressure off his team.

As far as his game managing, he is the best manager the Cubs have had in my lifetime. I'm 52. A bad bullpen will make any manager look bad. If the Cubs bullpen had not blown 10 or 11 saves, they would be in first place and the discussion would be about how great Piniella is.

Now lets address Dusty Baker. i don't blame Dusty for 2003. He did a good job getting that team to the playoffs. In the playoffs I mainly blame Gonzales for blowing the double play. But I still think if Baker had gone out and settled down Prior it might have been different. But I also look at things differently than most people. I think the Cubs got beat by a better team that year. The Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the WS.

2004 is a different matter. The Cubs were picked to win by almost everyone. The biggest difference between Baker and Piniella is Baker did not hold anyone accountable, Pimiella does. Baker let that team get distracted(arguing with announcers). And if I remember right they lost something like 9 of 10 to bottom feeders the last couple of weeks to blow the wild card. I would have fired Baker for his complete lack of control of that team.

Getting back to Piniella. I don't think judging him after two months is fair. Nobody was on Baker two months into his new contract. Even Ozzie needed to see what he had the first year he was here. He told Williams who to get rid of and what players he needed to win. They made changes and had great success the next year. Hendry spent alot of money on this team. That doesn't mean that it was money well spent. I think Piniella has already sent messages to Hendry about personel. That's why Pie is back. Hendry sent Pie back down. Piniella is the one that said he was looking to the minors for guys that could pitch and catch. In the end Hendry will be gone and hopefully they will hire the right GM to build a champion on the northside. They alraedy have a manager who is a world champion as a player and a manager.

Roman responds: Good post, but I do blame Baker for '03. The other managers had starters coming out of the bullpen to clinch a series, except Baker. The players vs. announcer fiasco was embarrassing, although what can you do with head cases like Wood and Prior?
Still, if Lou didn't want Pie sent down, he wouldn't have been sent down. Period. Lou had raved about Theriot early, so why not put him at short and let him stay there? What about the Dempster embarrassment? Starter or reliever?
So you're giving him a year? Wow. And you can't compare this to Ozzie. For God's sake, it was Ozzie's first gig. He wasn't a "world champion manager" before joining the Sox. And he made 1/4 of what Lou is making. There are times you give the manager some time, and times you don't. I don't think you do here. Not by a long shot.

Since lou got here media have been asking when will he go off, and reporting on the players pool guessing when he'll get tossed and on and on. So the media creates an expectation with repetitive questions and stories and then when he does get ejected, other media express disappointment and say they don't approve. Well then, that's just the media sniffing its own rear end.

Ozzie had a swearing fit on the radio and was thrown out the day after lou. So what? Does that make him an embarrassment to sox fans? Hard to tell isn't it?

The cubs will be just fine with Piniella. Chicago will just have to get used to having a competent professional managing one of their sports teams and not a neophyte, legacy or relative.

Who knows maybe the cubs will even win something. If they start performing like a major league franchise instead of a cash vending machine for the boys in the trib tower.

There's a reason Mcphail wouldn't hire lou before, he knew he wouldn't put up with the cubbies status quo. Now they have him so they may as well let him do his thing, you may have heard of it, I believe they call it winning.

Roman responds: Earl, let's let them get to .500 before we call it winning. Deal?

give the guy a break. lou is a good manager

give the guy a break. lou is a good manager