Lou Piniella Bio

I thought it would be nice to give some background on the man in charge of the Chicago Cubs, Lou Piniella. Louis Victor Piniella was born on August 28, 1943 in Tampa, Florida. This is where is parents immigrated to from Spain. Lou played his little league ball in the Tampa area where he faced Tony La Russa. Lou once stated that La Russa was like an older brother whose shadow he could not move out of. Lou would continue to face La Russa throughout his life and are now rivals in one of sports biggest rivalries, Cubs vs. Cardinals. Lou is married to his wife Anita. They still reside in Tampa where they both grew up and fell in love together. They both contribute a lot of time and money to charities and volunteer work. In 1990, Lou was given the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his significant contributions to America’s heritage.
Lou excelled in sports throughout his entire life and was actually an All American High School basketball player at Tampa’s Jesuit High School. In that season Lou averaged over 30 points a game and had a season high of 57 points. He chose to go to the University of Tampa and play baseball. There he received All American honors. He would go on to make his Major League debut with the Baltimore Orioles on September 4, 1964.
He continued to jump around from team to team until settling down with the Kansas City Royals in 1969. This was the Royals first season as a team in the MLB. Lou became the first player to come up to bat as a Royal. In that at bat Lou doubled off of lefty Tom Hall. He then went on to score the Royals first run in team history. This double would set the tone for the rest of his season as he received the Rookie of the Year award in 1969.
In 1974, Lou went to play for the New York Yankees. This team was the beginning of baseball’s great dynasty team. Lou would not get to play full time with the Yankees due to talent that was on hand for the Yankees until 1979 when the Yankees traded the center field in front of Lou. So Lou took over control of center field and moved to the leadoff spot in the lineup due to his quick hands and feet. He would go on the win 2 World Series with the Yankees before retiring in 1984. He played his last game for the Yankees on June 16th, 1984. He would end his career with a .291 batting average, slugging 102 home runs, and batting in 766 runners. He also excelled in the postseason with a .305 batting average.
After retiring Lou quickly became the manager of the Yankees in the 1986 season. He would then be promoted to General Manager before the 1988 season. During that season the manager, Billy Martin, was fired so Lou took the helm once again as the Yankee’s manager. Lou switched leagues in 1990 and took a managerial position with the Cincinnati Reds. In that year Lou led the Reds to the World Series and won his first ring as a skipper. In 1993, Lou took over the coaching duties with the Seattle Mariners. This would be his longest tenure as a manager. He received two AL Manager of the Year Awards. In 2002, Lou got traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a trade. This would prove to be Lou’s ultimate test of his coaching ability. The Rays were the league’s youngest team and had the lowest talent level. He had to start at ground level and build the team up from scratch. Though he was not hugely successful he kept the Rays going in the right direction to where they are today, which in 2008 the Rays made it to the World Series for the first time. Though not under Lou as he stepped down as head coach in 2005. The next stop for Lou would be in Chicago at the start of the 2006 season. There he has become loved by most fans and received the nickname, Sweet Lou. He again would have to try and build up a championship caliber team for the Chicago Cubs. By 2008 Lou had built the best team in the National League but got swept by the LA Dodgers. Lou continues to be the manager of the Chicago Cubs and is trying to earn them their first World Series title in one hundred years. The fans of Chicago keep holding their breath for the day that Sweet Lou brings Chicago back to Championship status once again.
Lou throughout his career was known for his anger and outrage towards bad calls and umpires. He even has had a few altercations with players in the locker room. If you watch Lou now you will see that he has calmed down to the point of controlling his outrage. He uses his altercations to spark the team and show his frustration. Lou has currently been ejected in 61 games but I bet he would not take back any of them. He uses these situations as a tool for winning games and with a career managerial record of 1,701-1,561 it must be working for him. With this record Lou currently ranks 14th all time in career managerial wins. He has won six Divisional Titles (National and American), and one World Series ring.