That Didn't Take Long: Lou Piniella Blows Up

Earlier in the year, commenter brosallman wondered, jokingly, how long it would take before new Cubs manager Lou Piniella unleashed one of his famous tirades thanks to the stresses of being associated with Cubdom. If you gussed nine games into the season, you were, sadly, correct:

"I can start to see some of the ways this team has lost ballgames," said Piniella, who has, up until that moment Friday afternoon in the interview room, refused to address the failures of the past 98 years. "I can see it. We've got to correct it, obviously."

Pressed on exactly what was wrong with this team, Piniella exploded.

"What the hell do you think isn't working?" he screamed. "You see the damn game."

Piniella has a history of temper tantrums, but if any game was worthy of the blowup, today's was probably it. The Cubs surrendered a 5-0 lead when the Reds scored six runs in the fifth inning. Zambrano gave up four of those runs, and then reliever Will Ohman gave up the rest, and Piniella was not at all impressed with Big Z or Ohman:

"This guy is your ace," Piniella said, his voice growing louder by the word. "You've got a 5-0 lead with the [Reds'] eighth and ninth hitters coming up. You feel pretty good about that inning, then all of a sudden it turns into a six-run inning. Then I bring in the reliever who's throwing 30-, 40-foot curveballs."

And Ohman?

"I don't know," Piniella said, then paused for 11 seconds, shrugging his shoulders and flipping his hands up in the air. "I don't know. What do you want me to say? Lot of balls didn't reach home plate."

Eesh. It's been a frustrating beginning of the season for the Cubs, but still: nine games in. That sure didn't take long, huh? Anyway, welcome to the Cubs, Lou. See what you got yourself into?