Lou Piniella

Lou Piniella is finally going to hang it up.  He's confirmed that this season will be his last on anybody's bench, and I think it's about time.

Why? How could I think it's time for Lou to hang it up when he's such a great "baseball mind"?

Well, let's consider the obvious.  There's the: temper tantrums, temper tantrums, tempter tantrums, and inexplicable losses in the postseason.

One of baseball's best managers is leaving the game. Like Bobby Cox, another respected manager, Lou Piniella has decided that after this season he will retire. 

Some might say it's because of the Cubs, but while they gave Lou his fair share of aches and pains, he's also shared laughter and joy while managing the Chicago Cubs. In his career, he was a two time American League Manager of the year and one time National League Manager of the year

Two of the best managers in this era of baseball will be retiring at the end of this 2010 season—the Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox and the Chicago Cubs Lou Piniella.

Both managers were great beginning their careers around the same time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Piniella with the New York Yankees and Cox with the Atlanta Braves.

"It was unacceptable," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella of pitcher Carlos Zambrano's dugout fireworks after the first inning of Friday's 6-0 loss to the crosstown rival White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

"His conduct was not acceptable," said general manager Jim Hendry, echoing Piniella's sentiments while announcing Zambrano's indefinite suspension from the team.

The Chicago Cubs have suspended pitcher Carlos Zambrano indefinitely after a dugout tirade during Friday's 6-0 loss to the cross-town White Sox.

Zambrano had to be restrained and separated from teammate Derrek Lee after he gave up four runs in the bottom half of the first inning at US Cellular Field.

Presumably, the issue was that Lee let a ground ball get by him at first base prior to Zambrano giving up a three-run home run.

This article is also available on The Daily Cub and The Chicago Perspective .

After taking two out of three games in their first series against the Cubs, the White Sox were able to rattle Carlos Zambrano's cage enough to give him a mental breakdown and get him taken out after one inning. Zambrano was also involved in an altercation with Derek Lee in the dugout.

If you are a true Chicago Cubs fan, then by now you know that this team is quickly heading nowhere.

Although they are still within 10 games in the division, the chances of them making up any ground is highly unlikely.

So what are the next steps this franchise needs to take?

It is simply to try and move veterans with the high salaries, and to build from the minor league system.

According to an Associated Press article on espn.com, Cubs skipper Lou Piniella admits to getting "teary-eyed" over his return to Seattle.

But what he should be shedding tears over is the play of his ballclub!

"Lou Piniella heard the roar from the Seattle crowd. He smiled and raised his right arm to wave to the people he helped thrill during the city's baseball heyday in the 1990s," the report said.

But look, Lou, it's no longer the 1990s and you are no longer managing the Mariners.

Thin-skinned Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella took exception to criticism about his use of rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin and went on a tirade before yesterday's contest against crosstown rivals the Chicago White Sox.

Perhaps he should be worrying about the way his team is playing instead of the outside criticism about his decision.

Part of the description of your job as a manager is that people will criticize you. Until Piniella went off yesterday I didn't know you had to have certain credentials before you were allowed to express your opinion.

A long time ago, Jim Hendry, knowing that the World Series window for a team that had not represented the National League in the Series since 1945 was very short, went on a spending spree. Among other signings, he gave Kosuke Fukudome a big deal, (4-years, $48 million) locked up Carlos Zambrano (5 years, $91 million) and Aramis Ramirez (5 years, $75 million) and, of course, the most reviled contract in Cubs history, the 8-year, $136 million dollar behemoth handed out to streak hitter and strikeout machine Alfonso Soriano.