So Long Sweet Lou

Lou was the right man for the job in 2007.
Now he’s leaving at the right time, too.

Of course, we didn’t get the championship or the explosive Lou
of years past, but who won’t miss those classic post-game
press conferences?

The long pauses, the play-by-play of the game and those
all too familier Lou-isms!

My personal favorites:
–”winning is like a massage, it’s very relaxing.”
–”he’s stroking the ball well, he really is.”
–”I don’t care about feelings.”
–”what can I do?”

The two division titles were thrilling, especially 2008, my most
enjoyable season of baseball to date.

The postseason, obviously, was heartbreaking–two series, two sweeps.
Didn’t help that Lou wasn’t at his best, either.

The skipper made the mistake of removing Zambrano too early in Game 1 of
the 2007 NLDS at Arizona. Then, failed to start Ted Lilly in 2008
against the Dodgers, going instead with Depmster, Zambrano & Harden.

There were other bone-headed moves too: Fukudome in the starting lineup, Reed Johnson on the bench & Soriano in the leadoff spot.

But Piniella isn’t deserving of all the blame, not in the playoffs
and not for the last two seasons, either.

Like any manager, Lou is at the mercy of his players.
Two years they got it done, two years they didn’t.
Right or wrong, the manager takes the blame.

Piniella’s stay won’t end the way we wanted it to, or the way we expected it to.
But something tells me we’ll look back on the skipper’s stay fondly.
Winning or losing, Cubs baseball has been interesting the last four years. And for that, we can thanks Sweet Lou.