Wind Blowing Out - Same Result

Though I certainly would like to do so, just because I think he is basically a dunce, I can't blame Lou for this loss. You could tell from the start that they were going to lose. They were uppercutting everything. This is not a smart team and when they are going bad, they don't make adjustments. Lilly was getting everything up and lost command, so the result was a 13-5 trouncing. Actually, I have not been impressed with Lilly since his return even though he beat the Brewers last Saturday. He was pitching up in the zone then too, but, hey, if there is a dumber team in baseball than the Cubs it has to be the Brewers.

I read an interesting article about Lou Piniella and his management style at Bleacher Report. I don't agree with all of the author's recommendations, but it is worth a read. Some people wonder what I am talking about when I criticize Piniella and say he is managing on auto-pilot. Isn't he supposed to be a shoot-from-the-hip guy who is not afraid to try anything to win even if it is stupid and outlandish? Not. Piniella manages from the book. He rarely defies the lefty-righty percentages no matter who is concerned, except that his tactics often contradict even this stereotype, as he acts as if lefties can never hit lefties, whereas righties can learn to hit righties.

Things he has learned are really just generalities. Take the Fontenot bunt situation from Wednesday's game. Yes, a left-handed hitter ought to be able to pull the ball, but that's just the point. Lou acts as if - and he does this consistently - he were managing a team of generic left-handed and right-handed hitters, not these specific players. So anybody who does not accept his lazy assumptions is some kind of blockhead. But actually, if you have watched the Cubs play this year, you will have noticed that Fontenot has changed his approach a bit and that he is now often hitting the ball the other way. This has helped his performance a lot, but unfortunately, to my mind, it makes the consideration of a bunt at least something you might want to seriously think about in that situation.