Losing it? It's news to Lou
Piniella, Lee deny clubhouse issues, though others admit 'growing pains'
MILWAUKEE -- It's too early and too much of an overstatement to suggest Lou Piniella is losing the clubhouse a mere two months into his first season as Cubs manager.
But his managing style has worn on some veteran players, many of whom spent most of the first two months trying to figure out his lineup patterns and some of whom bristle at his willingness to publicly criticize mistakes -- issues heated to the boiling point by an underachieving start, Monday night's 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park notwithstanding.
But his managing style has worn on some veteran players, many of whom spent most of the first two months trying to figure out his lineup patterns and some of whom bristle at his willingness to publicly criticize mistakes -- issues heated to the boiling point by an underachieving start, Monday night's 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park notwithstanding.
But even privately, players stop well short of suggesting the two-time Manager of the Year is losing the clubhouse, and most characterize it more like ''growing pains'' as a clubhouse full of first-year Cubs gets used to a first-year Cubs manager.
(AP)
(AP)
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But even privately, players stop well short of suggesting the two-time Manager of the Year is losing the clubhouse, and most characterize it more like ''growing pains'' as a clubhouse full of first-year Cubs gets used to a first-year Cubs manager.
Piniella said any problem in the clubhouse was news to him, and he vowed to get to the bottom of it -- later holding a closed-door session with team leader Derrek Lee.
''The amazing thing about it is I have a good relationship with a lot of these guys,'' said Piniella, who has held numerous one-on-one meetings over the first two months.
One player compared it to ''when you get married.''
Clearly, the honeymoon for most of the new Cubs -- Piniella included -- ended somewhere between Mesa, Ariz., and frigid Wrigley Field the second week of April.
Since then, it has been one ''don't squeeze the toothpaste in the middle'' after another ''quit hogging the covers'' for most of the last two months -- culminating with last week's six-game losing streak that included a players-only meeting, a simultaneous meeting of team brass in Piniella's office and a clubhouse brawl between pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett.
Publicly, Cubs players are in unified denial that any problems exist -- much less a lost clubhouse.
''That is just funny to me,'' Lee said after speaking with Piniella. ''That's false. I don't even know how you lose a team.''
But privately, several players did not deny that during last Tuesday's players-only meeting, some spoke up about their displeasure with Piniella. It was not the focus of the meeting, they said, nor a consensus feeling.
Lee denied any issue with Piniella was raised at all during the meeting.
Barrett paused and then laughed when asked about whether Piniella is losing the team.
''It's June,'' he said. ''I enjoy playing for him, and the way I feel about it is good teams overcome all kinds of doubt, all kinds of challenges, all kinds of obstacles. And it's up to us as the players. As a manager, you can only do so much.
''We all go through different things as a team over the course of a season, and you hope that when the time is right, we all come together and play good, clean baseball and it puts us in the right place at the right time.''
Not exactly a ringing denial.
''If there is a problem with two or three people, it's my job to address it,'' Piniella said. ''I expect things from people, and rightfully so.''
One of the biggest issues with many of the position players is a lineup that has had 46 eight-man versions through 55 games, with several veterans used to starting every day sitting for stretches or alternating depending on pitching matchups.
Exacerbating that issue is the fact that five veteran position players have joined the team from outside organizations within the last 11 months, making them new to both general manager Jim Hendry's roster as well as Piniella's managerial style.
''I'm fair, and I let people play,'' said Piniella, who acknowledges this team is made up a lot differently than the younger versions of the Cincinnati, Seattle and Tampa Bay teams he took over.
Certainly, managing style has nothing to do with whether an outfielder can catch a routine fly ball or a handful of veteran players are able to avoid blunders on the bases -- or in the case of Monday, prevent a pop-up from landing on the mound between five fielders in the third inning or a routine double play from landing at the feet of the pivot man who dropped a good throw.
Even after the Cubs came back to win their second straight game, leadoff man Alfonso Soriano (5-for-5 with a three-run home run) wasn't ready to say Team Disarray was out of the morass.
''Too early to say that,'' he said. ''The last two games we played well, and hopefully we continue to do that.''