Showing posts with label Lou Pinella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lou Pinella. Show all posts
Cubs have an All-Star
Last year the Chicago Cubs had a great year on their way to winning 98 games and their division! They had a great first half in which they seemed unstoppable having multiple games coming back from behind to win. They had eight All-stars last year and Lou Piniella on the coaching staff for the National League. This season has been much different for the Cubs and they only have one All-star. The Cubs are currently third in the central division and aren’t the favorite to win the central anymore after a disappointing first half. This year the Cubs only have two players that haven’t been terrible. One is rookie pitcher Randy Wells who has made 11 starts, including winning his last four games, and has a microscopic 2.48 ERA in 69 innings pitched. He has been the best player on the Cubs, but they aren’t going to send a rookie to an All-star game. Thus, Ted Lilly gets to go to St. Louis and represent the Cubs. Lilly has been the only consistent player on the team the entire season. Ted Lilly is 8-6 in 17 games pitching 111 innings (leads Cubs staff), with 97 strikeouts. This is Lilly’s second All-star game and he has quietly had a very solid season, just like the rest of his time in Chicago.
Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella Relationship
When Lou Piniella came to the Chicago Cubs a few years ago he had an big impact on the club. This wasn't because of his managing moves, but how he affected the whole organization and Jim Hendry. He was having Hendry call up youngsters and make roster moves we never saw in the past. Lou Piniella is a very knowledgeable baseball man and was able to help Jim Hendry sculpt the team. With Lou Piniella pretty much running the organization we knew it was in good hands. A few weeks ago we saw Gerald Perry fired and he was one of Lou's guys he brought in. Lou Piniella never didn't say much about the move, except that it was an organizational move and he obviously was not in favor of it. Well now it is coming out that the relationship of Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella isn't what it used to be. There is a great article in the Chicago Sun Times by Chris De Luca which can be found at http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/1649094,CST-SPT-deluca02.article which talks about the relationship between Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella. I think it is a bad thing that Lou Piniella does not have as much influence on Jim Hendry as he used to. What do you think?
Lou isnt senile, he's high on dope
Lou Pinella can empathize with Soto's positive marijuana test. He admitted to reporters that he once tried the hippie lettuce.
"Look, I have smoked dope one time in my life, and it didn't do a damn thing for me, and I never tried it again," he said. "And I'm fortunate because of that. But a lot of people do [smoke marijuana]. You can buy it in California from a pharmacy.Considering Lou played in the 70's I'm awefully sure he tried many things other than pot. With pot comes the munchies so maybe that explains why Soto is looking a little pudgy this year. Although he did just hit a 3 run homer against the Sox. Woohoo!
Lou and D-Lee Are The Worst Manager And Player Ever!!!
In lou of MVP Eckstein's repeated White Sox and Alexei Rameriz bashing, I thought I'd return the favor. If Cubs fan are going to repeatedly knock the ChiSox and a player people talk about, I'm going to do the same.
First, Ozzie gets a bad rap as a manager. I agree he's done some questionable things and is not the greatest manager but he's certainly not as bad as people perceive him to be. But let's talk about the glaring mistake Lou has made. One of the only jobs a manger has to do is create the lineup- and Lou hasn't done the best job of that. First of all, Ryan Theroit, a guy who can hit .310 and OBS .390+ is hitting seventh. Theriot is a quintessential lead off man because of his high OBS and little power. Instead, Lou decides to bat Soriano first. A man who had a OBS just below Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye last year. Soriano should be batting third, fourth or fifth. But because of the notion that "Soriano can't hit unless he bats first", Soriano lead offs. And as we all know, the notion is bullshit and based on a sample size when Soriano was moved down the order once.
And the man who Lou bats third, is an over hyped player who also should be batting lower- Derrek Lee. Last year, D-Lee was 15th in 1B VORP- on par with Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche. D-Lee was also 2nd in all of MLB grounding into 27 double plays. And D-lee is no stranger to that, grounding into 15 last year 11 two years before- in 175 ABs. We all read Moneyball- we all know the importance of outs. Clearly, we all know just how bad double plays are. His HR/FB ratio has also steadily decreased since 2005 (23.7%) to now (5.3% this year and 11.7 in 2008) and Lee's GB% has also increased. This obviously affects his HR totals seeing as he only hit 20 last year and 22 the year before.
If MVP Eckstein wants to take multiple jabs at the White Sox manager and a player I can return the favor and take stabs at Lou Pinella and D-Lee. The things you and I mentioned (D-Lee hitting into double plays and his reduced HR rate; Alexei failing to walk)are commonly known, but that doesn't mean you have to write multiple posts about it. We all know the Yankees got a new stadium but that doesn't mean I have to hear about every five minutes on ESPN.
I'm not saying you can never criticize the White Sox but the "Alexei Rameriz, Ozzie Guillen, LOL" post was just one of many that you guys, mainly MVP Eckstein, has done and is just unnecessary.
First, Ozzie gets a bad rap as a manager. I agree he's done some questionable things and is not the greatest manager but he's certainly not as bad as people perceive him to be. But let's talk about the glaring mistake Lou has made. One of the only jobs a manger has to do is create the lineup- and Lou hasn't done the best job of that. First of all, Ryan Theroit, a guy who can hit .310 and OBS .390+ is hitting seventh. Theriot is a quintessential lead off man because of his high OBS and little power. Instead, Lou decides to bat Soriano first. A man who had a OBS just below Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye last year. Soriano should be batting third, fourth or fifth. But because of the notion that "Soriano can't hit unless he bats first", Soriano lead offs. And as we all know, the notion is bullshit and based on a sample size when Soriano was moved down the order once.
And the man who Lou bats third, is an over hyped player who also should be batting lower- Derrek Lee. Last year, D-Lee was 15th in 1B VORP- on par with Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche. D-Lee was also 2nd in all of MLB grounding into 27 double plays. And D-lee is no stranger to that, grounding into 15 last year 11 two years before- in 175 ABs. We all read Moneyball- we all know the importance of outs. Clearly, we all know just how bad double plays are. His HR/FB ratio has also steadily decreased since 2005 (23.7%) to now (5.3% this year and 11.7 in 2008) and Lee's GB% has also increased. This obviously affects his HR totals seeing as he only hit 20 last year and 22 the year before.
If MVP Eckstein wants to take multiple jabs at the White Sox manager and a player I can return the favor and take stabs at Lou Pinella and D-Lee. The things you and I mentioned (D-Lee hitting into double plays and his reduced HR rate; Alexei failing to walk)are commonly known, but that doesn't mean you have to write multiple posts about it. We all know the Yankees got a new stadium but that doesn't mean I have to hear about every five minutes on ESPN.
I'm not saying you can never criticize the White Sox but the "Alexei Rameriz, Ozzie Guillen, LOL" post was just one of many that you guys, mainly MVP Eckstein, has done and is just unnecessary.
