Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thanks, Lou!
You always kind of figured that Lou Piniella was too smart to actually take the job as Cub manager. With the kind of organizational enema that was needed here after the 2006 season, Lou could easily have gone all Sargent Hulka and said, "I'm too old for this shit!" and remained with Fox doing color commentary.
But the lure of actually winning with the Cubs, and the open wallet the Trib was going to have needing to fill empty seats ahead of a sale, Lou took the job.
Oh, and $16 million helped, too.
Lou started shoving sodium phosphate up the Cubs sphincter right after Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett came to blows. Barrett was always a Hendry favorite. Only 20 days after the fight, Barrett was gone. And Lou was in control.
The result? Back-to-back division championships. It all fell apart when Jim Hendry's minor leagues were unable to generate fresh talent to fill in gaps, gaps that no longer could be filled via free agent spending.
The team spiraled down and now is so bad, Lou no longer cares to watch it anymore:
If you asked Lou, "Would you watch this shitty team for six weeks if we gave you a million dollars?" we know how he answered.
That makes him smarter than the 40,000 dopes who will be out at the game today.
Thanks, Lou. You gave us 3 wonderful seasons (we won't discuss the fourth). Go take care of your family. You were good and did the best you could here.
Since that wasn't enough, God knows possibly could be.
But the lure of actually winning with the Cubs, and the open wallet the Trib was going to have needing to fill empty seats ahead of a sale, Lou took the job.
Oh, and $16 million helped, too.
Lou started shoving sodium phosphate up the Cubs sphincter right after Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett came to blows. Barrett was always a Hendry favorite. Only 20 days after the fight, Barrett was gone. And Lou was in control.
The result? Back-to-back division championships. It all fell apart when Jim Hendry's minor leagues were unable to generate fresh talent to fill in gaps, gaps that no longer could be filled via free agent spending.
The team spiraled down and now is so bad, Lou no longer cares to watch it anymore:
"When I previously announced my intentions to retire at the end of the season, a primary reason for my decision was that it would allow me to spend more valuable time with my family," said Piniella. "That time has unfortunately gotten here sooner than I could have ever expected. As many know, the several weeks since that announcement was made have been very difficult on a family level, requiring two leaves of absence from the club. While I fully intended to manage this club the rest of the season, a family situation at home now requires my full attention."So, Lou is retiring now. That suggests he's giving up the last $1 million of his salary.
...
"My family and I respect Lou's decision to retire from the game he loves and thank him for his years of dedicated service." (said Tom Ricketts)
If you asked Lou, "Would you watch this shitty team for six weeks if we gave you a million dollars?" we know how he answered.
That makes him smarter than the 40,000 dopes who will be out at the game today.
Thanks, Lou. You gave us 3 wonderful seasons (we won't discuss the fourth). Go take care of your family. You were good and did the best you could here.
Since that wasn't enough, God knows possibly could be.
// posted by Chuck @ 8/22/2010 12:55:00 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
Maybe Lou should have retired after last season? The death spiral for this team began last August. It drove me nuts how he would always answer questions with questions, acting defeated and depressed with no real way to change things.
And perhaps his options were limited, but it seemed like he had pretty much given up last summer. That being said, he did give us two pretty good seasons before Hendry screwed up everything.
And perhaps his options were limited, but it seemed like he had pretty much given up last summer. That being said, he did give us two pretty good seasons before Hendry screwed up everything.
# posted by 
: 2:01 AM
: 2:01 AM
well lots of change has happened as predicted. some folks missed that these changes were happening before season end. hendry out to save his own neck asap.
# posted by : 11:42 AM
: 11:42 AM
Hard to watch the Cubs after a rough season. Of course now they begin winning games against other struggling teams they could not seem to beat earlier this year.
# posted by : 7:15 AM
: 7:15 AM
Meanwhile on the field, the Cubs now have the youngest roster in baseball who are in turn are playing hard each day and having some success. Of course, no fans show up to see that or for "Andre Dawson" night.
Typical Cubs fans. They will go watch a dead ass old team play in July since well..the weather is hot and the beer is cold yet when the Cubs finally do the right thing (bring up the kids and start a youth movement), they walk out.
And we wonder why Cub nation is consider a infectious disease by most of baseball?
Typical Cubs fans. They will go watch a dead ass old team play in July since well..the weather is hot and the beer is cold yet when the Cubs finally do the right thing (bring up the kids and start a youth movement), they walk out.
And we wonder why Cub nation is consider a infectious disease by most of baseball?
# posted by : 4:43 PM
: 4:43 PM
Gee whiz, I don't think Cub fans are much different than the fans for other teams. Are there huge crowds to watch the Royals and Pirates as they wind down losing seasons? Nope.
The bigger question is whether demand will be down for tickets for next season. The Cubs are going to need to sign or trade for a superstar to generate fan interest. Unfortunately, one superstar can't fix this team.
The bigger question is whether demand will be down for tickets for next season. The Cubs are going to need to sign or trade for a superstar to generate fan interest. Unfortunately, one superstar can't fix this team.
# posted by : 10:40 PM
: 10:40 PM
"The Cubs are going to need to sign or trade for a superstar to generate fan interest."
Which means Cubs fans are mostly idiots. Cubs fans should be interested knowing management is doing it the right way: Bring up a pretty talented farm system and evaluating it at the big league level while giving that talent TIME to develop and get rid of dead weight. Instead they are screaming for the Cubs to bring in Adam Dunn and/or Cliff Lee. Even if they brought in both, they still wouldn't be ready to compete for a few years. The only move I would support in terms of bringing in a big name talent is to trade for someone who is young and we can sign to a reasonable extension. Zack Grienke comes to mind on that one. That is it though. Keep playing the kids.
Which means Cubs fans are mostly idiots. Cubs fans should be interested knowing management is doing it the right way: Bring up a pretty talented farm system and evaluating it at the big league level while giving that talent TIME to develop and get rid of dead weight. Instead they are screaming for the Cubs to bring in Adam Dunn and/or Cliff Lee. Even if they brought in both, they still wouldn't be ready to compete for a few years. The only move I would support in terms of bringing in a big name talent is to trade for someone who is young and we can sign to a reasonable extension. Zack Grienke comes to mind on that one. That is it though. Keep playing the kids.
# posted by : 9:44 AM
: 9:44 AM
I suspect that if the Cubs decide to do it "right" that attendance will plummet because people want to follow a winner. They'll find something else to spend their money on until the team is competitive again and then they'll climb on the bandwagon. And it's that way for most sports teams.
With Ricketts' ambitious stadium renovation plans and massive debt, can the team afford a massive drop in attendance?
With Ricketts' ambitious stadium renovation plans and massive debt, can the team afford a massive drop in attendance?
# posted by : 9:20 PM
: 9:20 PM
"With Ricketts' ambitious stadium renovation plans and massive debt, can the team afford a massive drop in attendance?"
First of all, it is not "ambitious stadium renovation" - it is mandatory they make those renovations. If not, they are eventually going to become the Royals with an Ivy outfield. Second, if you think still drawing 30,000-35,000 per home game as a "massive drop off" you are sorely mistaken. The Cubs are going to draw regardless. Maybe not like 2004 or 2008 but they will draw. Too many fans combined with the fact that it is a tourist attraction in the summer will make sure of that. Just look at the games played in July and even early August. The stands were mainly full. Maybe not with all Cubbie Blue but for Ricketts at this current time, he doesn't care. All he cares about is getting his stadium renovations done, getting a TV station and playing the kids in order to see how good of a job Wilken as really done. Besides, if they hire Ryno the manager - Cubs fans are going to show up just to watch him and the players he developed. Or well at least the smart fans will.
First of all, it is not "ambitious stadium renovation" - it is mandatory they make those renovations. If not, they are eventually going to become the Royals with an Ivy outfield. Second, if you think still drawing 30,000-35,000 per home game as a "massive drop off" you are sorely mistaken. The Cubs are going to draw regardless. Maybe not like 2004 or 2008 but they will draw. Too many fans combined with the fact that it is a tourist attraction in the summer will make sure of that. Just look at the games played in July and even early August. The stands were mainly full. Maybe not with all Cubbie Blue but for Ricketts at this current time, he doesn't care. All he cares about is getting his stadium renovations done, getting a TV station and playing the kids in order to see how good of a job Wilken as really done. Besides, if they hire Ryno the manager - Cubs fans are going to show up just to watch him and the players he developed. Or well at least the smart fans will.
# posted by : 9:30 AM
: 9:30 AM
I suck coz I only appear to be able to think of one joke and one joke alone...
Why did the plane crash into the house????
COZ THE LANDING LIGHT WAS ON!!
Post a Comment
Why did the plane crash into the house????
COZ THE LANDING LIGHT WAS ON!!
# posted by : 3:33 AM
: 3:33 AM Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
