Lou Piniella
| Birthdate | 08/28/1943 |
| Death Date | |
| Debut Year | |
| Year of Induction | |
| Teams | Cubs, Indians, Marlins, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Royals, Yankees |
| Positions | Designated Hitter, Left Field, Manager, Right Field |
Lou Piniella recorded over 1,700 hits as a player and 1,700 wins as a manager; Joe Torre is the only man with 2,000 in each category.
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Lou Piniella played on two World Series champions and managed another
Lou Piniella played on two World Series champions and managed another
Lou Piniella began his MLB career with ten games combined in 1964 and 1968. When he reached the big leagues to stay in 1969, he hit .282 with 38 extra-base hits. The baseball writers voted him the AL Rookie of the Year.
During his 18-year playing career Piniella received votes in MVP balloting four times. Piniella helped his teams reach the postseason five times. He hit .305 in 44 games in October. He was even better in the World Series, hitting .319 with 23 hits in 22 Fall Classic games. Piniella’s Yankees were back-to-back world champs in ’77 and ’78/
Two year after he retired as a player, Piniella became the Yankee manager in 1986. He led New York to 90 wins and a 3rd place finish in the AL East in his first season. Piniella pushed his team to 89 wins in the following season. In 1988 he was fired 93 games into the season.
Piniella wasn’t out of the game for long. In 1990 he was hired to manage in Cincinnati. The Reds had a talented and young roster. They were still reeling from the fiasco brought on by franchise hero Pete Rose. Piniella united the team and led them to the 1990 World Series where the beat Tony LaRussa‘s Oakland A’s.
His best regular season as a manager came in 2001 when his Mariners won a record 116 games. In 23 seasons as a big league manager, Piniella had 8 seasons of 90 or more wins. His teams won their division 6 times.
In the collection is this lineup card from September 26, 1993. In the game Randy Johnson recorded his 300th strikeout of the season. It was the first of his record six seasons with at least 300 Ks. The Big Unit has boldly signed the middle of the lineup card. Piniell’s signature as Seattle skipper appears at the bottom.
Lou Piniella was the Manager of the Year three times
Lou Piniella was the Manager of the Year three times
As a skipper, Lou Piniella earned the Manager of the Year Award three times. The first came in 1995 with Seattle. That season he led the Mariners to the franchise’s first postseason berth. Five of his ten Seattle teams finished first or second.
The zenith of decade in the Pacific Northwest came in 2001 when the Mariners won an incredible 116 games. Writers voted him Manager of the Year for the second time. His final award came in 2008 when he led the Cubs to 97 wins and the division crown.
Shown here is the back of the lineup card shown in the previous image. As is customary with all pocket lineup cards, this one has the home stadium’s ground rules, in this case those of the Seattle Kingdome. Of note is the stipulation that, “a batted ball hitting any suspended object such as speaker wires, streamers, etc. in fair territory shall be judged shall fair or foul as to where it lands or is touched by a fielder.”
Piniella spent 18 years playing and 16 managing in the AL
Piniella spent 18 years playing and 16 managing in the AL
All 1,747 of Lou Piniella’s games as a player came in the American League. He also spent 16 of his 23 seasons as a manager in the AL. His final season in uniform in the Junior Circuit came in 2005 with the Tampa Bay Rays
Shown here is a ticket for the last time he donned a uniform as an American Leaguer. The contest was played at Tropicana Field on October 2, 2005. The Sunday afternoon was sunny and 72 degrees when the Orioles beat the Rays 6-2.
Though he was done in the AL, Piniella spent his final 5 seasons in a Cubs uniform. In 23 seasons, Piniella’s teams posted a 1,835-1,713 record. They won one World Series and six division titles.
