Lou and Ted ... enough said
MESA, Ariz. -- In this corner, wearing a baby bear patch on his chest and a glove on his right hand, Ted ''The Toronto Mauler'' Lilly. ... In the other corner, wearing three World Series rings and a 5 o'clock shadow, Sweet Looooouuuuu Piniella.
Let's get ready to -- well, you get the idea.
Let's get ready to -- well, you get the idea.
''Oh, yeah, I've heard it,'' Lilly said. ''It's come up.''
(AP)
''Oh, yeah, I've heard it,'' Lilly said. ''It's come up.''
The pitcher most recognized last year for a scrap with his manager, united with a manager famous for a clubhouse brawl with one of his pitchers? The cracks started coming in less time than it took Lilly to sign his four-year, $40 million deal with the Cubs in December.
And Piniella was first in the punch line this spring.
''I tell him I got a punching bag in the back room, and I use it to work on my left jab a little bit,'' the Cubs manager said.
It didn't seem so funny to Lilly last August, when he and Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, his former jogging partner, got into a shoving match in the tunnel behind the team's dugout after Lilly refused to give up the ball for a third-inning pitching change.
But if that became the defining moment of his 15-win season -- a fact he said he's not proud of -- it's a moment the Cubs can accept. No Cub understands such moments more than Piniella, who famously wrestled with pitcher Rob Dibble as the Cincinnati Reds' manager in 1992.
''In the heat of the battle, things happen,'' Piniella said. ''This kid's a very competitive kid. There's not going to be any problem, believe me.''
Not if he wins 15 games again. Or keeps pitching like he did Monday in his Cubs spring debut, using just 17 pitches to spin two shutout innings on a day when he was overshadowed by Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
The fact that Lilly even would be involved in a fight belies the serene appearance of the slightly built 6-foot left-hander.
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But don't be fooled by appearances.
''I've been friends with Ted for a while,'' said Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, who broke into the majors with Lilly in Montreal in the late 1990s. ''He's got zero fear. Zero fear factor.''
That's an especially good trait for a fly-ball pitcher who's expected to start about 15 games a year at Wrigley Field over the next four seasons.
''Whether the wind is blowing in or blowing out, the concept is as simple as giving up less runs than the opposing team,'' said Lilly, who hasn't pitched at Wrigley. ''You want to be aware of the environment, but I can't worry about changing my approach because of the ballpark. That's when you get in trouble.''
But the lefty, who's penciled into the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind ace Carlos Zambrano, is working this spring on a sinker he plans to use more often this season, and he was encouraged by it Monday. He'll work on it more Saturday against the Kansas City Royals in a scheduled three-inning start.
But r it's his fastball, curveball or a new sinker, there's little chance there will be fear on the mound, no matter where he is.
''That's just his makeup,'' Barrett said.
No? Rewind three years to the moment Lilly heard a strange noise and his wife screaming. He rushed around the side of the house to see a pit bull attacking one of their Labs, its jaws around the Lab's neck.
Instinctively, Lilly grabbed the pit bull and tried to pull its jaws open, eventually directing the pit bull's teeth into its own gums to get it to let loose.
''I didn't know what else to do,'' he said. ''There wasn't a baseball bat around. I was just afraid that he was going to kill my dog.''
Lilly saved his dog but came away with a bite wound on his right thumb.
''Fortunately, it just got my right hand,'' he said.
And if it happened again, he probably would do the same thing.
''It was just a reaction,'' he said.
Kind of like the confrontation with Gibbons on the mound last summer. Both Lilly and Gibbons called the scrap a mistake, Gibbons for his combative response in the tunnel (and contrary to initial reports, Gibbons had no bloody nose -- it was flying tobacco juice on his face).
Gibbons, in fact, called Lilly after he signed with the Cubs to congratulate him on the deal.
''It's not an issue,'' Lilly said. ''He's a professional from every angle.''
Lilly even looks forward to pitching for Piniella -- no matter how fiery or emotional he is.
''He's passionate and energetic,'' Lilly said. ''Those things are great for the game, to have those qualities. He cares. It's real. I think that's great.''
Easy for him to say. He hasn't seen that left jab yet.