Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 03, 2007
A Bit Too Far

Lou Piniella appears to have gone too far in his argument with Mark Wegner Saturday:

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella was suspended indefinitely and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for kicking dirt on a umpire.

It looks like the indefinite suspension was handed down to get Lou out of the dugout until MLB can make a decision about the length of the suspension. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a long one. Lou bumped the ump, and the whole fiasco was obviously for show, not because Lou thought the play was a bad call. Lou's out of practice at this, and he's going to pay for it.

Update: Whatever Lou did it worked today as the Cubs won 10-1. Of course, if he's out for a long time and Trammell manages a comeback, maybe he gets the job permanently.


Posted by David Pinto at 05:25 PM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I somehow doubt even a perfect record under Trammell as acting manager would threaten Lou's job. Were you just joking around?

That said, Piniella was way out of line for his rant, and will probably (should, at least) get hammered for it.

Posted by: Jeff B. at June 3, 2007 07:15 PM

Maybe Lou's looking to get out of Chicago, as the Yankee spot will probably be open at the end of the year.

Posted by: rbj at June 3, 2007 07:36 PM

There should be some consistency... Not referring to this case specifically but when an umpire bumps or otherwise makes contact w/a manager they do not get suspended yet when a manager does its automatic. There should be consistency.

Posted by: John Gibson at June 3, 2007 09:12 PM

obviously bumped him? seriously? it hasn't been obvious to anyone else...

Posted by: dave at June 3, 2007 09:16 PM

Dave, Pinto said the fiasco was obviously for show - not that he obviously bumped him. Read it again.

And I don't think this is about bumping the ump - at one point while trying to kick dirt on the ump, Lou sorta missed and kicked the ump in the shin.

MLB doesn't like it when you kick umpires.

Posted by: cephyn at June 4, 2007 09:17 AM
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