Reaction From Around The League On Lou Piniella

While Lou Piniella may not have been successful in leading the Cubs to the World Series, he will go down as one of the best Cubs managers to ever don the Cubs uniform. He lead this team to three straight winning seasons, which included winning two straight division titles. He has certainly earned my respect, as well as many others around the game of baseball.

Here is what Alex Rodriguez had to say about Lou Piniella, who managed A-Rod early on in his career.

"“For me, he is obviously a Hall of Fame manager,” Rodriguez said. “He is a rare breed. He is a rare combination of a guy who played in New York and won a championship and was proven and was tough.” ESPN NEW YORK"

The Following is a compilation of Quotes  courtesy of “MLB Tonight” courtesy of the MLB Network.

"Barry Larkin [played for Piniella on the Cincinnati Reds from 1990-1992]: “Lou demanded that you go out and play with passion. You knew if we won or lost a ballgame , just by how he dressed after the game. Whether he shaved the next day coming to the ballpark. He wore his emotions on his sleeve. The most profound thing when he came to Cincinnati is he set the standard. Lou said , ‘I don’t like losing and we’re not going to lose.’ He brought that to the ballpark every single time and that trickled down to us players.” Al Leiter [played for Piniella on the New York Yankees from 1987-1988]: “I had the privilege to have Lou as my first manager when I got to the Major Leagues in 1987. …There was an element of ‘That’s Lou Piniella , ’ and you respected him because of what his presence was. There is a certain energy level to this man and you saw his whole demeanor was based on a win or loss. It changed dramatically. And just watching him this year , his energy level just seemed , I don’t want to say flat , but boy, he has had it.” Joe Magrane [ Tampa Bay Rays TV analyst when Piniella was manager from 2003-2005]:“I remember he told me when he first got into managing , he was really keyed up about just trying to do all the nuts and bolts. George Steinbrenner told him , ‘Hey , son , you’ve got to remember this is an entertainment business too. Go out there and kick some dirt on an umpire , throw a hat , throw a base.’ Well , he did that.” Courtesy of “MLB Tonight” on MLB Network"

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on his cross-town friend…

"Where managing until 67 is concerned, the age Piniella will be when he retires after four years of leading the Cubs at the end of the 2010 campaign, that’s one path Guillen doesn’t believe he will follow.“I don’t think I will be alive at 67,” said Guillen, drawing rousing laughter from the media during his pregame session on Tuesday. “I’m serious. I’m 46. That’s 22 … no, 21 years.“No way. No chance. I’m done. I hope I make it to 50. You can say you never know, but I don’t think I will live that long.”———————“A lot of respect. I think this man, when you talk about baseball, period, Lou Piniella’s name has to come up,” Guillen said. “As a player, as a coach, as a manager, I think this guy will be in the Hall of Fame.“When you make decisions like that, drastic because he had to think about it. That’s easy when you have his age and had the career that he had and had the privilege to have the power to say, ‘I’m done.’“You look at guys like Bobby Cox, Lou, Cito [Gaston], they don’t give guys opportunity to fire them or leave baseball the wrong way or the way they should be. They go back home the way they should with his head up. MLB.COM"