Sweet Lou

I have mixed emotions this morning as I read about Lou Piniella's retiring at he end of this season. He said he just wants to spend more time with the family; the wife, kids and grandkids. Who can argue with that. But, I can't imagine baseball without Sweet Lou. His 20+ years of managing baseball were filled with fire and expletives, but mostly with succinct descriptions of how his team played, "We stunk out there tonight". People remember the great run his Mariners team had to get to the AL Championship game only to lose to Cleveland, but often forget the Reds team he managed won four straight games in 1990 to crush the "Bash Brothers" Oakland A's in the world series. They also forget he played 18 years in the majors as the pudgy outfielder that had a career .300 batting average and won 2 WS rings with the Yankees, who he later managed.

All that said, the thing I will miss the most about Lou was his maniacal tirades that put the fear of God in every umpire in the league; his base throwing, his spitting as he screamed at the umpire, his dirt kicking and most of all the stream of curse words that spewed from his mouth like a sailor in the brig. Some people thought he set a bad example. Not me; his passion for the game is what made his teams play up to the next level. The day of the fiery manager will be gone in baseball, replaced by statistical geniouses that are baby sitters for the multi million dollar crybaby players. So, at the end of the season, Lou take a break; you're only 66 with life to live after baseball. I am sure some team will offer you a front office job, because the one thing I know for sure is that as much as I will miss Sweet Lou, he will miss baseball more.