CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Piniella announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of the season, ending a storied and often colorful career that included 18 years in the majors as a player and another 22 as a manager.
Piniella, 66, who made five trips to the World Series in his career and has three championship rings, said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. He didn’t rule out consulting for the Cubs or another team, but made it clear he was gettingout of the daily grind.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” he said. “There’s no way that I won’t cherish the memories here.”
But he added: “I’ve been away from home since 1962. That’s about 50 years.”
General Manager Jim Hendry said former Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, now a minor league manager in Des Moines, Iowa, will be a candidate for the job. He said Piniella’s replacement won’t be hired before the end of the season.
“It’s not going to be a two-week process,” Hendry said.
Sandberg, who spent several seasons as a spring training instructor with the Cubs after retiring in 1997, said he is interested in the job.
“I need to focus on what I’m doing here in Des Moines with these players and what my job is right now,” he said. “If the time came, if I was considered for that job in Chicago, I think that’s be a terrific thing just to be considered. The whole goal of any minor leaguer is to get to the major leagues, and I think that includes coaches and managers like myself.”
One of the Cubs, slugger Derrek Lee, said he was surprised by the timing and that Piniella will be missed.
“He doesn’t like to lose. He takes the losses extremely hard,” Lee said. “He’s had a great career, put a lot of time into this game.”
Announcing his retirement now, Piniella said, gives the team time to find a replacement.
“I’m proud of our accomplishments during my time here and this will be a perfect way for me to end my career,” he said. “But let me make one thing perfectly clear: our work is far from over. I want to keep the momentum going more than anything else and win as many games as we can to get back in this pennant race.”
Entering Tuesday’s game against Houston, Piniella’s overall record was 1,826-1,691 (.519) and he trails only Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre in victories among active managers. The Cubs said Piniella will retire as the 14thwinningest manager in majorleague history.
His record with the Cubs was 307-271, and he is in the fourth and final year of his contract. After leading the Cubs to consecutive National League Central titles in 2007-2008, Piniella and his team missed the playoffs last year and have struggled again this season with a new owner in charge. The Cubs have gone 102 years without a World Series title.
A right-handed outfielder, Piniella was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1969 after batting .282 with 11 home runs and 68 RBI with the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 1973 and ended his playing career with New York in 1984.
In all, Piniella played 18 years in the majors - 11 withthe Yankees - and was a career .291 hitter.
He began managing in 1986 with the Yankees and lasted three years, including a stint as general manager. He managed the Cincinnati Reds in 1990-1992, leading them to a World Series championship in his first season. He also got national attention for a clubhouse wrestling match with reliever Rob Dibble.
Dibble, part of the “Nasty Boys” bullpen, said Piniella “was one of us.” He downplayed their 1992 tussle as overblown.
From Cincinnati it was on to a long run in Seattle, where Piniella’s teams won at least 90 games four times. The Mariners went 116-46 in 2001, but lost in the ALCS to the Yankees. His 1995 and 2000 Mariners teams also fell in the league championship series.
Piniella won 93 games his final season with the Mariners in 2002 before heading home to his native Tampa but had a difference of opinion with ownership, questioning the Devil Rays’ commitment to winning before they bought out the final year of his fouryear contract.
In Chicago, Piniella’s arrival was part of a major overhaul that sent expectations soaring after a dismal 2006 season.
Chief executive officer Andy MacPhail resigned after the Cubs won just 66 games, ending a 12-year run that included only two postseasonappearances. A day later, the Cubs announced they were not renewing manager Dusty Baker’s contract, and Hendry went shopping.
First, he picked out Piniella, who left the TV booth for a three-year contract worth nearly $10 million, with an option for a fourth year. ThenHendry committed about $300 million for players.
The Cubs re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez for five years and $75 million and lured Alfonso Soriano with an eight-year $136 million deal, the fifth largest in major league history. They also added Ted Lilly to the starting rotation, but for all the big moves, the results were awfully familiar at first.
The low point came in a series against Atlanta in early June.
Pitcher Carlos Zambrano got into an altercation with former catcher Michael Barrett that started in the dugout and resumed in the clubhouse, resulting in fines for both players. The next day, Piniella got ejected for a dirtkicking tirade against umpire Mark Wegner during a loss that left the Cubs at 22-31, resulting in a suspension.
From there, though, the Cubs turned things around.
They went on a run that led to the playoffs and kept it going the following year, going 97-64 - the most victories for the franchise since 1945.
Things have not been as good for Piniella and the Cubs since then. The team missed the playoffs last year and through Monday was 10 1 /2 games out of first place in the NL Central and 10 games under .500.
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/21/2010