Lou Piniella Joins The Mariner Hall Of Fame

I captured this from the TV during Lou Piniella's induction into the Seattle Mariner Hall Of Fame.

Lou Piniella To Be Inducted

No doubt, one of the top 5 figures in  Mariner history, Lou Piniella will be inducted into the team's Hall Of Fame tonight.  Lou Piniella managed the M's during 7 of their 11 seasons above .500 (more wins than losses) and all 4 play off appearences.  When Lou is introduced, you may hear what sounds like booing, they are really yelling LOU!  I met Lou at the 2013 Hutch awards.

Piniella To Be Inducted

Lou Piniella, not only the Seattle's most successful manager, but arguably it's only successful manager, will be inducted into the team's hall of fame this summer.  Piniella guided the club to 7 winning seasons and 4 play-off appearances.  To look at the Mariners history with Piniella compared to other managers of the team, it is like looking at 2 separate ball clubs.  The induction ceremony will take place on August 9th  when the Mariners play the Chicago White Sox.

Rubbing Elbows With The Greats At Hutch Luncheon

San Francisco Giants Pitching great Barry Zito (pictured above) was the 2013 winner of the Fred Hutchinson Award,  honor the famous Major League manager who was a Seattle native.    The keynote speaker of the event was former Mariners skipper Lou Piniella (lower picture).  Piniella looked trim and tanned as he spoke fondly of his time with the Mariners. 
The award is presented each year to a player who exemplifies Fred Hutchinson's spirit, Hutchinson's brother started the world renown Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. 

Piniella Bows Out

Lou Piniella recently stepped down from his managerial duties with the Chicago Cubs. Seattle Times beat reporter Larry Stone had this excellent article about Lou's career. Click here

Piniella Will Retire

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella has announce that he will retire at season's end. Piniella, of course, is best known for turning around the Seattle Mariners, leading them to several post season appearences. Piniella will be remember for his angry outburst which included throwing bases, kicking his cap and loud arguments with umpires. There will be many that will hope that Piniella will be talked out of retirement and manage the Mariners again.

Chicago Cubs Invade Safeco

One of my favorite teams, the Chicago Cubs is in town to play the Mariners. The Cubs are managed by former Seattle skipper Lou Piniella (pictured above), a legend in Seattle sports, having guided the M's to it's only post season appearances.

My affection for the Cubs goes back to my boyhood, their AAA farm club at the time was in Tacoma. As a boy, I was able to watch the Tacoma Cubs on cable channel 11, KTNT. In 1999, we visited Chicago's Wrigley Field to watch the team play the Padres, although the game was called in the late innings because of a vicious rain storm.

Last night the Mariners beat the Cubs 2-0.

Lou Piniella Up To Old Tricks

Meanwhile, things are not going so well for another ex-Mariner. Chicago Cub Manager Lou Piniella received a four game suspension after a tirade last weekend in a game against the Atlanta Braves. Piniella went ballistic on the umpires, just as he was known to do in his 10 year stint of managing the M's. The Chicago Cubs, once baseball's "lovable losers" can now drop lovable from that nickname. The "midgets" of the Midway can simply be known as Baseball's answer to the LA Clippers.