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VeteranPiniella Wrong Fit for Cubs
The Chicago Cubs should have hired former catcher Joe Girardi as their next manager. While Lou Piniella has the hardware (one World Series Championship and two AL Managers of the Year) he has compiled only a career .517 winning percentage despite owning the luxury of several Hall of Fame players performing under his supervision. Don Mattingly, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Randy Johnson are all in the Hall of Fame or will be one day, and all of them played under Piniella with the Yankees, Reds, and Mariners.
Piniella has a better chance of seeing God than winning a Series with the Cubs
Piniella had many talented young players with Tampa Bay (Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, Julio Lugo, Danys Baez, and Aubrey Huff) and could do nothing to harness their talents and take them anywhere above fourth place. The Cubs, in a probable rebuilding year, figure to field several young players in 2007, and Piniella has proven he cannot win in the absence of proven Major League veterans. Girardi on the other hand, took a Marlins team with only one regular fielder (backup utility man Wes Helms) and three regular pitchers (starter Brian Moehler, closer Joe Borowski, and setup man Matt Herges) age 30 or over to within a handful of games of the NL Wild Card. The Marlins, $15 million payroll and all, played young castoffs like Dan Uggla, Miguel Olivo, and Joe Borchard routinely, and exceeded everybody's expectations. It's hard for me to believe Piniella will win more than 75 games with the Cubs in 2007 while whatever team hires Girardi can expect a major turnaround next season. As for the '07 Marlins, they'll see a 10 or 15 win decrease with new manager Freddi Gonzalez.
Smith Right to Ditch "Victory Monday"
Today Bear's coach Lovie Smith scheduled a morning practice at 7:00am. Ordinarily, after a victory, the Bears would have had Monday off. But they beat Arizona last week 24-23 so ditching Victory Monday looks peculiar. But it was an ugly win, and coming off the bye week, the Bears could be rusty while playing San Francisco this week. Both the offense and defense were sluggish against the Cardinals, and Chicago needed a dose of reality. Getting this past weekend to relax means the Bears have enough energy to practice an extra day this week, and it will pay dividends down the road.
I have never seen pine tar before, but I know dirt when I see it
Roger's Game 2 Performance Reeks of Conspiracy
This one is short and simple. As Tim McCarver pointed out during the broadcast, "If it's not illegal, then why did they ask him to wash it off?" And why didn't he get ejected? I don't know what that "foreign substance" on his left palm was, but it wasn't dirt. And it wasn't there by accident. Kenny Rogers should have been thrown out of the game, and can you imagine what the consequences of that would have been? Detroit may have gone on to win the game anyhow, but their bullpen would have been forced to pitch eight innings. That's quite a big difference.