News
Injuries forced Piniella to improvise
Cubs manager used projected regular lineup four times
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
10/05/09 1:26 AM EST
CHICAGO -- Imagine Lou Piniella writing a "How I spent my baseball season" report. He could include his meeting with President Obama in Washington, as well as being issued a warning for jaywalking in San Diego.He became the first Cubs manager in 70-plus seasons to lead the team to a winning record three straight years, but disappointed the fan base because the team didn't make the playoffs. Piniella had to scramble because of injuries, using the projected regular lineup four times all season. He had a chance to see quite a few of the Minor Leaguers.
Piniella can document the positives. Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly each notched their 100th career win, Derrek Lee set a career high in RBIs, and Ryan Theriot established personal highs in home runs and RBIs.
Bobby Scales, a substitute teacher in the offseason in Georgia, was finally rewarded after 10-plus years in the Minor Leagues with a callup to the Majors. Tyler Colvin, the 2006 No. 1 Draft pick, didn't have to wait as long as Scales and made his debut as well, picking up his first Major League RBI in his first at-bat. Jeff Samardzija also made his first big league start.
But Ryan Dempster broke a toe when he jumped over the dugout fence at Wrigley Field, and Geovany Soto injured his oblique in batting practice.
Piniella told Milton Bradley to go home from the Cubs-White Sox game in June, then apologized. General manager Jim Hendry sent the outfielder home for the season on Sept. 20.
Bradley will be a chapter on his own. He made a baserunning gaffe in St. Louis in May, and again against the Twins in June, when he also lost the ball in the sun, and forgot how many outs there were in an innning, throwing the ball into the stands when there were runners on.
The Cubs manager added to his career ejections, getting tossed twice, both times on the road. He was ejected July 1 in Pittsburgh by umpire Chad Fairchild, and Aug. 9 in Colorado, the latter coming after a heated argument with second-base umpire Chris Guccione.
Piniella heads into the final year of his contract with the Cubs, and has made it clear this will be his last managing job. He found himself having to defend himself often during the year from outsiders who felt he was "disinterested." Maybe he can wrap up his report with a comment he made during the last week of the regular season.
"I've been in it from the first day I've been here to the last day I leave here," Piniella said. "I take pride in the team winning and playing well to please our fan base, which to me is the best in baseball. We work exceedingly hard here as a staff. If you want to stick around and be here until 1 o'clock, 1:30 in the morning when the parking lot is closed because we're having meetings on how we can get the team better, you'll see we're very interested and have a lot of pride."
Record: 83-78, second place in NL Central. Defining moment: An early-August stretch against Colorado and Philadelphia. The Cubs were tied for first on Aug. 6 but lost six of their next seven against Rockies and Phillies. Zambrano pulled himself out of his start Aug. 7, the bullpen became overworked, and the team was outscored, 55-27, in those seven games. What went right: Lee regained his power stroke. Lee set a career high in RBIs (111), hit the most home runs (35) since he smacked 46 in 2005 and carried the team from July 1 on. Carlos Marmol emerged as the closer of the future. What went wrong: Bradley. The switch-hitting outfielder was added because the team wanted a left-handed bat, yet he hit .234 from the left side and totaled 40 RBIs in 124 games. The team also struggled with runners in scoring position and finished with 707 runs scored, well below the 855 runs they scored in 2008. Losing Aramis Ramirez for two months and having Alfonso Soriano and Soto struggle also contributed to a lackluster offense. Biggest surprise: Randy Wells. The rookie, a former catcher, finished in double-digit victories, the first Cubs rookie pitcher to do that since Kerry Wood won 13 games in 1998. Wells was projected as a long man in the bullpen but now is projected as one of the starting five for 2010.Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
