The Widowmaker Strikes Again

During the 1949 season, just four years after managing the Cubs to the NL pennant, Charlie Grimm resigned as manager to become general manager. Since then, 21 different men have started a season as Cubs manager. Some arrived with a fabulous track record (Leo Durocher, Dusty Baker). For others, it was their first shot at managing (Lee Elia, Whitey Lockman). All had one thing in common - they couldn't get the team back into the World Series (let alone win it).

Lou Piniella clearly belongs in the "fabulous track record" group. Piniella managed the Reds to a World Championship and led the Mariners to four postseason appearances (the only ones in franchise history). In his two first years, he did a fantastic job with the Cubs, becoming the first manager to lead the team to back-to-back postseason appearances since Frank Chance. Piniella's managing played a big part in this; unlike Dusty Baker, who loved his "proven veterans", Lou played the guys who deserved to play - he benched Cesar Izturis for Ryan Theriot, and put rookie Geovany Soto on the playoff roster (and even started him in game 2 of the NLDS). But both years, the team was swept out of the postseason, holding a lead for a total of 4 innings in the the 6 losses.

In 2009, the Cubs made several major changes to their roster - at Piniella's request, they "got more left-handed", signing Milton Bradley and trading fan favorite Mark DeRosa to open up second base for Mike Fontenot. Despite a rash of injuries to key players (Ramirez, Lilly, Zambrano, Dempster), season-long slumps (Soto, Soriano), and the constant distractions brought on by Bradley, the Cubs held first place as late as August 4 and finished with a winning record. While Piniella should be given some credit for keeping the Cubs afloat, his managing was part of the problem - playing Koyie Hill literally every day while Soto was hurt; playing Aaron Miles at all; his constant refrain of "look, what do you want me to do?" in response to reporters' questions (answer: "your job"). However, the Cubs certainly seemed poised to at least compete for the division title again in 2010 and didn't look like one of the worst teams in baseball (on paper, anyway). But obviously, that didn't work out, and now Piniella is left with this mess as the final impression of his tenure as manager of the Cubs, and the job has claimed another victim who came in with great credentials.

Even all-time greats can go out on a sad note: Willie Mays flopping in the outfield in the 1973 World Series; Bob Gibson serving up a game-losing grand slam to Pete LaCock in his final inning in the major leagues; Carlton Fisk being released by the White Sox less than a week after setting the record for most games caught. And so it goes for Piniella - his 1835 wins are 14th all-time, and of the managers ahead of him, only four (Torre, Cox, LaRussa, and Mauch) aren't in the Hall of Fame (Torre, Cox, and LaRussa will be eventually). In spite of the 2010 season, the fact that he's seemingly been detached and uninterested for most of the season, and the way his managerial career ended with a 16-5 loss, I'd still say he's still one of the all-time greats (I'm not the only one, either), and (even if it's faint praise), the best and most successful Cubs manager since World War II.