Piniella Hall of Fame snub was a bad call
“I always had respect for Lou because he never covered his ass. He was going to take whatever he thought was his best chance to win. That’s a gutsy thing to do.”
Tony La Russa
Hall of Fame manager
NASHVILLE – More than 13 years after he managed his final game, former Cincinnati Reds manager Lou Piniella got robbed by one more bad call.
Base-throwing, dirt-kicking, hattossing bad.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Hall of Fame manager and veterans committee voter Tony La Russa said of Piniella missing the Hall of Fame by one vote last week for the second time in as many times on the ballot.
“We were convinced that if Jim got in, it would be along with Lou,” La Russa said of Jim Leyland, the former Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers manager, who was the only one voted in by the committee this time around. “We were concerned there only three people were going to get in at the most.”
That’s the most to make it in one year in a process involving 16 voters, who may each vote for a maximum of three candidates from an eight-person ballot that included managers, umpires and executives.
A candidate must appear on 12 ballots to be elected. Leyland got 15 votes; Piniella 11.
The pools of candidates rotate on three-year cycles. Next year is the Classic Baseball Era ballot; the year after that, the Contemporary Era Player ballot (for players who have recently fallen off the BBWAA writers ballot).
That means Piniella, who turned 80 over the summer and has battled health issues in recent years, won’t be eligible again until December 2026.
La Russa, an old friend of Piniella from their days growing up playing ball on the same fields in Tampa, Florida, said he hopes Piniella ultimately makes it on a future ballot.
But the next one is expected to include Dusty Baker, Terry Francona and maybe Bruce Bochy (if the Rangers manager retires in the next two years).
“We all felt pressure because three years from now Dusty and Tito (Francona) are on it,” La Russa said.
Piniella, who also managed the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Chicago Cubs, had more career wins than Leyland and as many championships (one, in Cincinnati).
And nobody this side of Earl Weaver or Billy Martin — both former managers of his — was more white-hot competitive than Piniella.
A former Mariners staffer tells the story of Piniella refusing to get dressed before figuring out the best lineup to overcome that night’s tough loss to Cleveland in late summer 2001, sitting at his desk in his underwear writing out lineup card after lineup card before crumpling each one and starting over.
Finally, the staffer said, “Lou, we’re 50 games over .500,” at which point Piniella paused, looked up and chuckled as he put down his pen.
That was Seattle’s 116-win team. Also: His team had scored 14 runs in that loss.
“I always had respect for Lou because he never covered his ass,” La Russa said. “He was going to take whatever he thought was his best chance to win. That’s a gutsy thing to do.”
It occasionally meant putting reliever Jeff Nelson in left field for an out before bringing him back to the mound for two more in a 1993 win in Boston or leaning hard on Randy Johnson out of the bullpen to clinch the Mariners first playoff series win over his old Yankees in 1995.
Piniella tangled with Rob Dibble in the clubhouse, aired out countless umpires, abused bases, water coolers and postgame spreads.
He also sent an apology letter to an umpire after kicking dirt on his shoes during a tirade and was beloved by support staff in particular everywhere he managed.
In a statement to outlets in Tampa and New York after the vote, the former American League Rookie of the Year and World Series-champion outfielder said:
“Although I did not get inducted this year, I am very proud of y 40-plus years of MLB service and have accomplished more than I could ever have dreamed of.
“For those who did not know, I have been battling cancer for the past few years and recently received some positive news.
“Although I did not make the Hall of Fame, I am so grateful to God for everything He has blessed me with, and I will be celebrating with my family and friends.
“Thank you again for considering me and God bless.”
Piniella never managed in the era of replay challenges (and his teams’ games were far more entertaining for that). But last week’s bad call could have used a challenge system.