Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella retires
Chicago Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella was scheduled to retire at the end of this season, to aid his sick mother. But after missing a few games in August to go home in Florida and spend time with her, Piniella was torn between his career and family. Understanding that the latter is more important to him, Piniella announced his retirement to the baseball world on Sunday after 48 years in Major League Baseball.
“She hasn’t gotten any better since I’ve been here,” he said. “She’s had a couple other complications, and rather than continue to go home, come back … it’s not fair to the team, it’s not fair to the players. So the best thing is just to step down and go home and take care of my mother.”
The Cubs were unable to send Piniella away with a victory in his final game, losing 16-5 to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. The players were disappointed about their poor performance.
"I wish we would've played better for him," relief pitcher Sean Marshall said.
But win or lose, it was going to be an emotional night for Piniella, who turns 67 on 28 August, and for the Cubs organization. Surely one final victory would have been a sweet ending to an illustrious career, but Piniella was appreciative of his years in Chicago and at Wrigley Field.
“I’ve enjoyed it. It’s a wonderful place to work and wonderful people to work with and for. To end a career in a place like Wrigley in a city like Chicago with these wonderful fans, I couldn’t be more appreciative to the Cubs organization,” Piniella said after the game in a press conference.
Piniella entered his final game with a 316-292 record with the Cubs and has done a lot of great things for this organization, which was so dear to him.
“It’s a very tough day for him, very emotional,” Jim Hendry said of the man he hired to replace Dusty Baker. “There have been some times the last couple of months where he knew his family was possibly going to need him. He certainly didn’t want to go out before the end of the year, but it’s just at the point now where he needs to be home with his mother and his family.”
Piniella was the Cubs’ manager for nearly four years and his impact was immediate, leading Chicago to 97 wins in 2008 and made the playoffs before being swept for the second straight year.
After that successful run, things haven’t always gone as smoothly for the Cubs and their former manager. Piniella, who managed 5 different teams for 23 years, had a tough season behind the bench as the Cubs posted a 51-74 record under Piniella. With Chicago 21½ games behind the National League's Central division leader, Cincinnati Reds, it will be interesting to see how they will play under Mike Quade, the Cubs’ third-base coach and newly appointed interim manager.
The decision to name Quade and not Alan Trammell, the Cubs’ bench coach for the same amount of time that Piniella has been their manager, has left many surprised. But Trammell’s tranquil approach to coaching was in direct opposition to Piniella’s fiery demeanour.
But before becoming a manager, Piniella played 18 seasons in the majors with four teams and finished his 18-year career with 102 home runs, 766 RBI's, and a .291 batting average. He never won a championship as a player, but he has had the honour of winning the World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990 as a manager.
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