Lou should have known better

Cubs simply got out managed. Zambrano should of been allowed to go at least 7. In a best of 5 series can't afford dumb managing like that! Soriano & others must step up or it will be a short playoff series. Only one game, but cubs must start looking like a 200 million dollar team. I predicted a quick playoff exit for cubs. I hope I'm wrong but doubt it judging lack of heart on cubs.

Blow Cubs Blow, Blow Cubs Blow,.. Hey Mariotti what ya say, the Cubs are going to loose today!

There is a reason Lou Pinella won 116 games in 2001 and lost in the ALCS! He is a HORRIBLE playoff manager! First, he has a runner on second with no outs and Zambrano up to bat. What does he do? He lets Zambrano hit! True, Zambrano had a double earlier, but this is a pitchers duel on the road. The smart manager plays for runs, and bunts Theriot to 3rd. Next, he lets Zambrano hit with the bases loaded, even though he plans to take him out the next inning! Why? Finally, and most importantly, he take Zambrano out after 6 innings to save him for sunday's game! If I'm not mistaken, game 3 is saturday, which pretty much means Pinella is GUARANTEEING a game 4! Kinda reminds me of when the Red Sox didn't pitch Schilling against the White Sox in 2005 to save him for game 4! How did that work out for them? Pinella SINGLE-HANDEDLY cost the Cubs this series!

Also, has Dick Stockton been assigned to ALL Chicago teams this year?! I'm personally sick of him! He has already called Aramis Ramirez, Rodrigo Ramirez. Why Dick Stockton?!

Roman - to explain how the Cubs lost their first game against the Diamondbacks you say:

"It was pretty simple. Arizona pitched better and took advantage of Carlos Marmol to pull out Game 1."

Let's not complicate things with the fact that Piniella took out Zambrano after he had only thrown 85 pitches in order to save his arm for a possible game 4.

Is this not an important game? Is this a game we can sacrifice for a future game, which now might not happen since Lou decided to risk today's game in order to baby Z's not-very-fragile arm? Zambrano was on a roll when he was taken out, and Marmol is a rookie - the fact that he has been great in the regular season this year notwithstanding. Z is a much better bet than the youngster, and this is pretty obvious.

The Cubs would have been 20 games over .500 if Girardi or Sandberg had been managing them. "Sweet Lou" has done less with more talent than has been achieved in a long time, and it's stupid decisions like this that are costing the Cubs a lot of those games they "should have won."

Hey Carlos Zambrano, maybe it's time to take a swing at Lou. He's the other guy holding this team back.

Hopefully the Cubs' amazing individual talent will make up for their inept leadership and they will win despite being led by a Humpty Dumpty looking puttering old man.

Go Cubs!

Great pitching on both sides. That is why the game went so quickly. Big Z has to be supported when he pitches well. Cubs are a good team, but they are going to have to take it from Arizona. No excuses.

Of course he made quick work of the Cubs just as I thought. He could get them out without throwing a strike, because they swing at terrible pitches. Sweet Lou gave the Latin version of "Slingblade" (aka Big Z) the quick hook and it blew up in his face. He probably did the right thing because Big Z would've cracked and given up the winning run anyway. The Cubs are the worst team in the Playoffs, so why do people expect them to win?

Is it just me, or did was Zambrano pitching pretty well? Can't figure out why Lou pulled him so early.

Also, did MLB think there are no kids in Chicago who would want to watch this series? A 9:07 pm start time, school night or not, precludes just about all kids from seeing even one pitch. That just makes no sense to me at all. I know they didn't want to have 2 games going simulatneously, but you'd still think they'd put the Cubs on at a more reasonable time.

Good Morning Chicago!!! What a wonderful game we had in AZ last night. The young guns ravaged the veteran Cubs team. I see Marriotti, the White Sox hater, all up in arms about the Sox fans hating the Cubs. Cry me a Mississippi River Jay. You hate on the White Sox every chance you get. What hypocrisy!

I am taking pleasure in 99, soon to be 100 years of Futility. As a loyal Sox fan living in Phoenix I was able to go too bed by 10 PM, cause in Phoenix we don't have Day Light Savings, and it's the West Coast Baby!

I hate the Cubs even more cause of that hack Marriotti.

Where's all the Cub fans? Talk about fair weather. Game 1 demonstrated how baseball is not played on "paper". It's actually played between the white the lines by by real people with real emotions. The D-backs gave you Cub fans a glimpse of how they won 90 games. Hand a lead over to the bullpen. Bring in Valverde. Game over. "Anybody, Anytime" Last night it was Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew. Tonight, someone else will take their turn.

Lou forgot one thing -- he's there to win.

Two times he had runners on second with no outs. Neither time did he bunt them over to third. Cost him both times.

Get Soriano out of the leadoff spot and drop him to #3. Theriot's a better leadoff hitter and with Soriano at #3, the Cubs have a much more difficult 3-7 order for pitchers to get through unscathed.

Small ball, Lou. Small ball.

And we're not talking about the pair that are attached to you.

Please do not blame Lou or Z for that loss. Blame those ice cold bats. You can credit the pitcher, but those bats are to blame. Lou had to pull big Z to reserve him, but also to keep his head right. His next start is just as big as this one. Z has been righted and it is imperative that he stays that way. Marmol is still a good pitcher, but the Diamondbacks did something the Cubs didn't...they got over the hype and beat a good pitcher. That is what you have to do in October. Other teams are not going to collapse and give it to the Cubs like the Brewers did. Cubs in 5.

Why not pinch hit for Z with runners on in the 6th if he was going to take him out? That was the difference.

Z was just warming up from what I could tell, not showing any signs of tiring.

From where I was sitting...3rd base line. The Dbacks were throwing absolute HEAT the whole game. Cubs batters were barely making conact. I think we had around 10K team strike outs...

We had a ton of chances, but we came out very flat, not very pumped up.

The crowd seemed like it was about 75d%backs-25%cubs

I only saw 1 fight and it wasnt from the cubs.

I hate to criticize someone for what might turn out to be great foresight, of which there is very little in sports per se.
Marmol has consistently responded in such situations, so the move was certainly not irrational.One game at a time really is the best way to go usually, but Lou seems to have forgotten that last night.I don't think anything was wrong with Z., but I was surprised when he didn't come back out.

Lou blew it bigtime last night. He should have been playing small ball in a pitchers duel and pulling Zambrano afetr 6 innings and 85 pitches was ridiculous. If Lilly loses tonight the Cubs are down 2-0 and if Lilly wins everyone will be thinking what might have been, a 2-0 lead for the Cubs with the series coming home. How the hell can you be thinking about game 4 when it might not even happen?
I am a Sox fan and I'm not sure this is the place to post this but here it goes anyway. Mariotti's column about Cub hating Sox fans is ridiculous. I know scores of Sox fans and I don't know anyone with the hate that Jay says we have for the Cubs. We took a lot of crap from Cubs fans and vicious columns from Mariotti in September '05 when the Indians were red hot. It works both ways. There is a bias in the media.
With that said, even though I don't think there's much chance of the Cubs winning it all this year, I hope they do for the true Cub fans, not the pretend fans who like to go to Wrigley just to party and all of the bandwagon jumpers. The true fans deserve it after all these futile years. There's nothing like it. You get to bask in the glory for a long time after. Go Cubs.
Memo for Lou (baseball Yoda): Watch some tape of the Sox in the '05 playoffs and how Ozzie handled his pitching staff. If a starter is hot, ride that horse as long as you can. There is no planning for games in the future. The only game that matters is the one your playing today.

I definitely agree with what Seedy said...

In regards to the bullpen, though

Soto made the mistake...Marmol went wild there for a second...right before he served up the homer....A smart catcher would have called time and went to the mound after the second wild throw...the count was 2-1...he didn't..next pitch was a home run...I called the pitch and the homer before Carlos threw the ball....DaWife was impressed...

When did catchers forget they control what goes on when the defense is out there...

Seedy Backslash

"Get Soriano out of the leadoff spot and drop him to #3. Theriot's a better leadoff hitter"

....what?

Soriano OBP: .337
Theriot OBP: .326 (actually, they're both not very good choices.)

"Two times he had runners on second with no outs. Neither time did he bunt them over to third. Cost him both times."

My applause goes out to you, Lou Piniella, for understanding that when you have a runner on 2nd and no one out, you should not be playing to score exactly one run by sacrificing hitting him over and in, because this decreases your expected runs in that inning. I only wish idiot fans would understand this.

Lou got flat out out-managed. He should have known that waiting for the long ball was not going to happen. Is it too much to ask for our multi-million dollar superstar to lay down a bunt to move the runner to third with less then two outs? And why , I repeat WHY WASN"T ZAMBRANO BUNTING TO MOVE OVER THE RIOT????? Give me a break, Someone wake up sleeping Lou before the Cubs get swept.

If he was going to pull him to save him for another day (I don't understand this strategy) he should have done it when the bases were loaded and it was his turn to bat.

The amount of men left on in scoring position last night was disgusting!

Come on Lou get in the game!

Let go tonight Cubs!!

GO CUBS!

Seedy Backlash, you have a point about lowering your expected run total for an inning; however, when it is the playoffs, and you are facing Brandon Webb, every SINGLE run counts far more than in a regular game. You simply CAN NOT have Zambrano, a .250 hitter, swinging away with a man on 2nd and nobody out. That is just bad baseball. The game was meant to be played a certain way, and watching your leadoff men get to 2nd and stay there is about as sinful a thing a baseball team can do. The first time made slightly more sense - Soriano is not a bunter, really. But still, somebody needs to tell Alfonso there's a time and a place for that wild swing, and with a man on 2nd, nobody out, you NEED to make contact. Baseball players learn this at a very early age.

So yes, if Soriano, Jones, Lee, (or later) Zambrano would have gotten the big hit, Lou looks like a genius. They didn't, so he was exposed for disrespecting the most simple rules of the postseason--take runs when you can get them off of an ace pitcher, don't expect Webb to beat himself.

And don't refer to people who believe in playing baseball correctly as "idiot fans." If we had an "idiot fan" managing last night, those manufactured runs would have at least tied the game--and depending on when Z got lifted, maybe won it.

Actually, Cub fans should know better. It will now be 100 years since a World Series Title. "Hey Mariotti what ya say, the Cubs are going to loose today"

Howry should have come in first. Put DeRosa in the 2 hole, sit floyd and let Murton play. And some players should get the take sign on 0-2's

If the Cubs go on to lose the series against the D-Backs, rest assured the decision to take "Z" out after only throwing 85 pitches through 6 inings in game one will be pointed to as the move that started the tail-spin. But that was just game 1. The D-Backs still have to win 2 more. Unlike '84 when the "Red Baron" struggled in the 8th inning and was left in in the 9th and gave up the winning home run to Steve Garvey in game 5, a game that should have been played in Wrigley Field had it not been for the lack of lights and the greed of network TV( the real goat that feeds on anything it sees as profit).
Marmol apparently felt the pressure of the situation and hopefully that is behind him now. My only question is this....if the Cubs go on now to win 3 in a row with "Z" pitching game 4, what does that do to the rotation going into the NLCS?

Lou is clearly under my spell. I'm looking forward to the Cubs' return to the Cursed-confines - where revenge will be mine!

Roman: The comments below were made in response to the first blog title posted here after the game. Now I see that you were enlightened by dreams and came to the logical conclusion that Lou screwed up. The only thing is, this isn't the first time. Remember when he had Dempster pitch a game that we went ahead by 6 runs in, even though D had pitched the day before? It's almost as if Piniella feels the need to bring in any pitcher that he warms up, no matter how the situation changes in the meantime.

I was pretty pissed off after the game... I mean, at least Lou had the sense to start Soto, and his lineup was only a little bit weak (The cold Cliff Floyd behind Ramirez?), and he's a Cub - so I shouldn't hate him so much. Still - he needs to get some sense.............. here's the post:

Roman - to explain how the Cubs lost their first game against the Diamondbacks you say:

"It was pretty simple. Arizona pitched better and took advantage of Carlos Marmol to pull out Game 1."

Let's not complicate things with the fact that Piniella took out Zambrano after he had only thrown 85 pitches in order to save his arm for a possible game 4.

Is this not an important game? Is this a game we can sacrifice for a future game, which now might not happen since Lou decided to risk today's game in order to baby Z's not-very-fragile arm? Zambrano was on a roll when he was taken out, and Marmol is a rookie - the fact that he has been great in the regular season this year notwithstanding. Z is a much better bet than the youngster, and this is pretty obvious.

The Cubs would have been 20 games over .500 if Girardi or Sandberg had been managing them. "Sweet Lou" has done less with more talent than has been achieved in a long time, and it's stupid decisions like this that are costing the Cubs a lot of those games they "should have won."

Hey Carlos Zambrano, maybe it's time to take a swing at Lou. He's the other guy holding this team back.

Hopefully the Cubs' amazing individual talent will make up for their inept leadership and they will win despite being led by a Humpty Dumpty looking puttering old man.

Go Cubs!

Roman responds: Where was this Lou-bashing earlier in the season? Enlightened by one game?

Noles:

Was that you behind home plate last night holding the Cubs neon light? If so, put it down, don't spill your drink and learn that statistics are often misleading (If they weren't, how could "Billy Ball" fail so miserably in Oakland this year?).

Lead off is more than OBP. It's the ability to handle the bat, bunt, hit behind the runner, get on base, take the pitcher deep in the count, etc., etc. For my money, Theriot is much better at the little things than Soriano. Plus, Soriano cannot hit a breaking ball to save his life right now. DBacks will pick up on that and probably won't throw another fastball over the plate to him in the series. When you're the lead off, chances are that fewer runners will be on base, so pitchers can throw whatever they want to Soriano. If he hits #3, chances improve that he will have someone on base when he bats. If that's the case, it's more likely that he will see fastballs instead of breaking balls that might bounce and go past a catcher. See the logic?

With Zambrano on second after a leadoff double, Lou didn't want to take the bat out of Soriano's hands so he let him hit away. If Theriot is in the leadoff, Lou bunts Zambrano over and then waits for his 2,3,4 hitter to get him in.

When you're facing the DBacks "Ace" you do whatever it takes to score runs.

It's about wins, Noles, not about protecting someone's fragile ego or believing in all things statistical. If that was the case, then the Cardinals should have been smoked by the Tigers last year in the WS. However, LaRussa understands the #1 rule in the post season -- the only thing that counts are wins.

Well, it's just like when Pinella said earlier this year "I can see why this team has lost some games". Well I can see why Lou Pinella's only championship ring came from a team that he shouldn't have been managing anayway(Reds). And guess what Seedy Backlash, you're a moron! When your team is in a pitcher's duel in the middle or latter part of the game, and the bottom of your order comes up with a runner at second and no outs, you have to bunt! You CAN'T think about "expected runs" because it's not a normal game. You have to manufacture runs in those type of game!

Okay, just have to take issue with Doug (I think it was him) who said game five against the padres should have been played at Wrigley. The fact that it was on the road had nothing to do with night games, lights or the network. At that time, home field advantage rotated every year between the east and the west, and that year it happened to be the west. If the Cubs had made the world series, they would have played during the day. Period.

Now, back to the issue at hand. Lou went with a three man rotation. The first guy out of the pen ad a 1.43 era, 65 inn pitched vs. 98 K's (I may not be exact on the stats, but I'm close) and at one time had a 23 inning scoreless streak. It's a one-one tie with Webb getting one more inning at best. IT'S NOT A BAD MANAGERIAL DECISION TO GO TO ONE OF THE BETTER BULLPENS IN BASEBALL!

Homeruns are just as much about luck and timing as they are about skill. This D-back lineup isn't full of prolific homerun hitters. The kids got lucky, and they tagged a few solo shots. I think they knew that to have a chance, they had to win the first one since they can't pitch Webb 5 times straight, as much as they would like to.

The Cubs should be able to beat up on Doug Davis as well as Livan Hernandez, who must be at least 53 by now. As far as Micah Owings goes, uh, who? The Cubs know they need to win three in a row to keep the ball out of Webb's hands.

It's go time.

"as Micah Owings goes, uh, who?"

Yeah, wait till you see him bat!

"Cubs are going to loose today!
Posted by: Dj Nitro | October 4, 2007 12:15 AM

----
Its 'lose'...D BAG!!!!

SonnyBlack:

Please read more carefully before you begin the petty name calling game. Lou SHOULD have had his players BUNTING when on two different occasions he had runners on second with no outs.

That's what I said.

You moron.

HATERS GO HOME!

I've been saying all season: Soriano gives up too many at-bats with his Ks. Nowhere was it more evident than last night. His pitch recognition and selection are flat-out awful. 2-1 count, runner on second, 1 out, and he's swinging for a fences at a pitch 2 inches from the dirt? I don't know why Z didn't bunt over Theriot; and I wouldn't have blamed Lou if he pulled Z for a pinch hitter when the sacks were full. The object is to win the game, not see how many innings you can get out of your starter.

Webb pitched well, but this game should have been in-hand. No bunting, failure to move the runner over...this came back to haunt them, just like the regular season. For those who've argued you shouldn't do these things, let me remind you -- it's the playoffs! You're not playing for big innings, because -- hello people! -- these teams are better than, say, the Pirates. So a run here, a run there...that tends to matter. A lot. Don't expect a bunch of blowouts.

The D-Backs are completely unimpressive to me. But if the Cubs continue to play stupidly, it'll be a short series.

Slightly OT, but I like the posters that took note of Mariotti's latest piece of work. Funny how the biggest cry-baby in the media is telling Sox fans to grow up. Roman, can someone at the Sun Times please explain why his new "24/7" pseudo-blog doesn't allow for reader feedback and comments (am I missing the link?)? At least Rosenbloom has the stones to take it when he's dishing it out and not shield himself behind his computer.

Kudos to Roman and the Times for continuing to keep this blog going.

The way I see it the ole Cubs are doing just fine. In the past they would win the first two and then...well you know the rest. So as I see it the Cubbies are in good shape.

Keep the posts coming sox fans I love it! I would be giving it out to you too. I also love all the money I won from all you sowsiders who thought that the sox would end up with a better record than the Cubs.

Lou's our guy.

Keep the faith.

GO CUBS

Cubs played bad, praying that things will be better tonite. My complaint is about the stupid announcers on TBS....Mike Quay-de???Carlos Mar-mol???? The idiots broadcasting are annoying and oh so boring??? Len and Bob should get to broadcast ANY Cubs games, play-offs or not..miss you guys..will probably turn my computer on to WGN radio tonite for Pat and Ron...I'm not in Chicago.
GO CUBS GO!!

If Mariotti wants to bark for the Cubs.......

unleash the dog!

GO CUBS!

What is going on on this blog? I actually wrote the one above mine, that said it was posted by Seedy Backlash. The one that talks about Pinella winning 116 games and being an idiot. Come on Romes, get it right.

Roman responds: Sonny, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH POSTING NAMES. IT'S AUTOMATIC!!! I hit "save changes" and it's automatically posted.

Doug wrote:

"Unlike '84 when the "Red Baron" struggled in the 8th inning and was left in in the 9th and gave up the winning home run to Steve Garvey in game 5"

You're confusing your games. Garvey's 9th inning game winning home run was in game 4, off of Lee Smith (the Cubs trailed for most of that game). Game 5 was when the Cubs blew a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 6th when a routine ground ball took a freak hop over Ryne Sandberg and Leon Durham (in an eerie premonition of the gaffe by the man he replaced, Buckner, two years later) let a ground ball go thru his legs.

The only problem I have with pulling Z for Marmol in the 7th last night was why didn't he go with the experienced playoff guy in wood...instead of the rookie who could have used the day in the pen to get used to the atmosphere?

Roman responds: The thing lost in all of this, except for one poster, is that the Cubs' biggest problem was they couldn't hit. They were going to need to score more than one whether Z was in or not.

I stand corrected "The Cubs are going to lose today"
To "Tom the waiter": It's Go D-Backs! I'm pretty impressed with Arizona, considering everyone here is writing them off, and they just handled the Cubs Ace.

Listening to Dick Stockton just made me wish it was Sunday. And it was weird hearing his distinct voice say baseball things. I kept waiting for him say, "and the pass was just picked off......."

I took several of our LittleLeague teams , Virginia,Il., and learned real quick that you win the game today and worry about the next game when it get here. Lou should know this win them one at a time. He could have taken him out early in game four [ if we even get that far].....

Jeff you are wrong on 2 counts.....first it was me that said game 5 in '84 should have been played in Wrigley....second the Cubs were supposed to have the Home field advantage but it was changed because the network didn't want to televise 3 day games and that was when plans to put lights in Wrigley were made go back and check the Sun-Times Archives!

The biggest cry baby in ALL OF SPORTS,my dear friend is none other than the cubs "LIVING LEDGEND RON SANTO". If you don't believe me asked DON YOUNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

D'Backs 1 - 0
-Hindsight 20/20, Lou messed up no doubt
-Baby backs have more heart and team chemistry than any other NL Club.
-Two best teams are in the East (Yankees/Red Sox)
-Cubs get over yourselves. It is hard to produce winners. Your whinning fans chase away quality players.
-White Sox did it, why can't you?
-S.B. is not to blame for your past playoff pain ! The reality was if your Left Fielder would not have caught it. It is easier to blame this poor sap thanto point to a error that cost you an error. It was a foul ball for goodness sake, not a hit !

As far as Micah Owings goes, uh, who? I don't think you want to find out. I wish he was pitching tonight. His last outing of the season he pitched six innning of scoreless baseball along with FOUR hits himself. He's a stud. That's the problem with Cub fans. They look at the statistics of D-back hitters and the starting staff behind Webb and figure Cubs in a sweep. Nobody has figured out this team, nobody CAN figure out this team. So don't try. Just don't sell them short. If you do. you'll get burned worse than the Arizona sun. Lou was selling them short by yanking Zambrano thinking his bullpen could handle the D-back hitters. Lou got BURNED!! GO DIAMONDBACKS, GO CARDINALS, GO SUNS, GO SUNDEVILS!!!!

Ok, let's go over this one more time. Your (not you're) name appears below your comment. Below. Not above. The person above you posted the comment above yours. I can see where it would be confusing, but if you know what you wrote, and you know your (not you're) own name, it should be self-explanatory. If not, you're (not your) an idiot.

Roman responds: Gracias.

Mariotti is an idiot. "smoke and mirror" Diamondbacks, "somebody" named Mark Reynolds
Hey Jay. Uh, the Diamondbacks actually won more games this year than your precious Cubs. Enough with the run differential and NL's lowest batting average stuff all you media hacks.
Mariotti, if you would have watched the Diamondbacks play this you would know who Mark Reynolds is.
Smoke and mirrors? I guess I didn't realize baseball was one of those "smoke and mirror" sport's. It's actually pretty straightforward.
You pitch, catch, and hit. If you cross the homeplate more than the other team, you WIN. Not a complicated. Certainly no need to employ the old "smoke and mirror" trick in order to win. Mariotti, what sport are you watching.

It's not over till it's over.

I figured some dopey Sox fan would post a blog about how delighted he is that the Cubs lost. Your team wins the World Series two years ago, yet you still have this persecution complex and take out your frustrations on the Cubs. Give it a rest already. Guys like you are only happy when you're not happy.

smoore echoed my take! Lou manage game 1 with a loser mentality.Short series can't afford blunders by Lou or big money players going 0 for game either!

Like I said before, the D-Backs look pretty impressive don't write them off Mariotti. They actually won 90 games. Now they just handled 2 of the Cubs Aces.
Go D-Backs!

Sweeney and Roman are right! They need to hit! They are pitching, but they need to hit to win. If they plan to score 2 and 3 runs, they might as well get it over with and lose tomorrow. Cubs need to quit drinking that blue coolaide and get their heads/hearts right. Stop with the smiles and interviews and yucking it up with the yuppies. Cubs have the best team and can beat them, but it will take matching the diamondback's intensity/focus. Diamondbacks are wounded with injuries, outclassed, unwanted and written off! And they are playing baseball!