So it's an early June Saturday and your home team is drowning in their typical June swoon. On the brink of losing their 6th game in a row and falling nine games under .500. If you look in the Baseball 101 manual there are few options given to a manager other than ride it out and hope the fans don't catch you in the parking lot. Lou Piniella decided to take a close call at 3rd base and craft his defining moment as the skipper of the Chicago Cubs. Having a world class fit that made Earl Weaver stand up and smile somewhere. Nobody at the time knew that Lou had just warned the Milwaukee Brewers that his boys, in the words of the immortal Robert Wuhl, had done enough lolly gagging.
A suspension was handed down and all critics decided to bury the Cubs as Overpaid underachievers, but his players witnessed how far their manager was willing to go for them. The loudest responses have been the numbers of Carlos Zambrano (9-2, 12 earned runs in 11 starts) and Alfonso Soriano(14 HR,30 RBI,40 RUNS) since the incident. Zambrano dug deep and had a 12K effort against the crosstown ChiSox and Soriano threw in a 3HR effort against the ATL later that month. Showing a more confrontational side was Derek Lee who would take a swing at Chris Young of the Padres less than a week after Piniella's hat kicking tirade.
The smoking embers that the Skipper had left on the field seemed to ignite each player over the next few weeks individually. Now as you open your local Sporting Green on August 2nd and browse the NL standings you may see something that seems out of place. Don't rub your eyes or go put your contacts in. The Cubbies really are in 1st place. As we march on towards October lets keep our eyes open to see what that crafty Ol' veteran Piniella has up his sleeve next. Do the North Siders dare dream of an October playoff berth...
