by Lou Piniella
SHORTSTOP: FREDDIE PATEK—His size (5′5″, 148 pounds) belied his big-time ability. Superior range with great throwing arm afield. Pesky hitter with superior speed who was a three-time All-Star.
THIRD BASE: GRAIG NETTLES—Maybe the smartest player I ever knew and definitely the wittiest. Along with Alex, the greatest third basemen in Yankees history. Six-time All-Star, 390 career HR.
RIGHT FIELD: REGGIE JACKSON—Thought about making him my DH but knew he’d get the ass about that, so I’m starting him in right field. “Mr. October,” one of the great postseason players of all-time—and also one of the greatest showmen the game has ever known.
CENTER FIELD: AMOS OTIS—In my opinion, one of the most underrated players of his time. He could do it all. Three Gold Gloves, five-time All-Star. Had power (193 HR) and speed (340 SB). Ten straight seasons of 20 or more doubles.
LEFT FIELD: DAVE WINFIELD—Classy, smart, complete player who hit for average and power. Six 100-RBI seasons for the Yankees. I agree with those who said the most exciting thing in baseball in the ’80s was watching him go from first to third with those long, powerful strides.
DESIGNATED HITTER: JOHN MAYBERRY—Big John was one of my favorite guys. Dangerous hitter who was a big ol’ teddy bear off the field. My last year in KC (’73), he led the AL in on-base percentage (.417), with 26 HR and 100 RBI. Runner-up AL MVP in ’75.
RIGHT-HANDED STARTER: CATFISH HUNTER—Hall of Fame pitcher and person. Money pitcher who won countless big games for the Yankees and, before us, the A’s. His first year with us, 1975, led the league in wins (23), innings (328) and complete games (30). You read those last two stats right.
LEFT-HANDED STARTER: RON GUIDRY—His ’78 season, in which he led the AL in wins (25–3) and ERA (1.74) and struck out 248, remains one of the greatest single pitching seasons in history. Loved his competitiveness. I always marveled at how all that power pitching could come out of that thin, small (5′11″, 160) frame.
CLOSER: GOOSE GOSSAGE and SPARKY LYLE—Sorry. It was impossible to choose just one here. They were both superior closers—one (Goose) who’s in the Hall of Fame and the other (Sparky) who probably should be. Goose was the fiercest competitor I ever knew and Sparky was the coolest.
Lou’s All-Time Opponents Team
CATCHER: CARLTON FISK and JOHNNY BENCH—Had to split this one too. Only played against Bench in the 1976 World Series, but it was more than enough to warrant being an all-time opponent: .533, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 runs in 4 games. From 1971 to 1979, when they both played against each other, Fisk and Munson were each named to seven All-Star teams, and you have no idea how much that pissed Thurman off.
FIRST BASE: EDDIE MURRAY—One of the most lethal switch-hitters in baseball history. Says it all that he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite spending nearly his whole career at war with the Baseball Writers Association.
SECOND BASE: ROD CAREW—Along with Tony Gwynn (whom I never played against), Carew was one of the best contact hitters not only in my time but also in baseball history.
SHORTSTOP: CAL RIPKEN—2,632 consecutive games played, 3,184 hits, 431 HR, 1,695 RBI, and two MVP awards says it all. With Murray and Ripken, it was no wonder Weaver won all those games.
THIRD BASE: GEORGE BRETT—I had the privilege of playing with and against him. We all know how he absolutely killed the Yankees (.358, 6 HR, 14 RBI in 17 postseason games against us, 9 career HR alone versus Guidry and Catfish).
RIGHT FIELD: AL KALINE—Made it all look easy. Complete player. Hit for average (.313 lifetime against the Yankees) and power, and had a rifle for a throwing arm in right field. Would be the captain of my all-class team.
CENTER FIELD: ROBIN YOUNT—Made the seamless transition from shortstop to center field, while collecting 3,142 hits and winning two MVP awards in the process.
LEFT FIELD: JIM RICE—With his short, compact, powerful swing, he hit .330 with 36 HR in 170 career games versus the Yankees. I’ll never forget the colossal home run he hit off Matt Keough in July 1983. It was his second HR of the game and traveled nearly 500 feet, off the facade of the third deck in left field at Yankee Stadium.
DESIGNATED HITTER: PAUL MOLITOR—Best right-handed hitter I ever saw. His 3,319 hits are ninth all time.
RIGHT-HANDED STARTER: JIM PALMER—Smooth, fluid delivery with late pop. Won two Cy Young Awards and was 30–16 with a 2.84 ERA against the Yankees. Plus, he was at constant war with Earl Weaver, which made us kindred spirits.
LEFT-HANDED STARTER: MICKEY LOLICH—Don’t be fooled by his doughboy physique. He was a truly nasty curveball specialist, and one of the most durable pitchers of the modern era (four straight seasons of 300-plus innings, 1971–74).
CLOSER: DAN QUISENBERRY—Never gets his due as one of the great closers of all time, because he didn’t throw hard. Led the league in saves four times when saves were really (often multiple-inning) saves. Only thing keeping him out of the Hall of Fame was that his career was short.
Lou’s All-Time Managed Team
CATCHER: DAN WILSON—This was a real tough call over JOE OLIVER, with whom I won a world championship, but I had Danny longer. He epitomized all the ingredients needed for a field-leader catcher—he handled the pitching staff exceedingly well, had a strong throwing arm, worked hard to make himself into a decent hitter, and was tough as nails, like Thurman.
FIRST BASE: Have to split this one, a righty-lefty platoon, if you will, between DERREK LEE and DON MATTINGLY—They were both great hitters, for power and average, superb defensive first basemen, and team leaders. A privilege to have managed both.
SECOND BASE: BRET BOONE—Confident, cocky, highly productive hitter from a position not often associated with offense. Turned the double play as well as any second baseman I ever saw.
SHORTSTOP: Another position I have to split, this time between ALEX RODRIGUEZ and BARRY LARKIN—I raised Alex in baseball and he will go down as one of the greatest players of all time. Barry had a Hall of Fame career, was a twelve-time All-Star, and was the leader of my 1990 Reds world championship team.
THIRD BASE: ARAMIS RAMIREZ—Very professional hitter for average and power. Had two 100-RBI seasons for me in Chicago, was excellent defensively, and was another quiet leader in the clubhouse.
RIGHT FIELD: ICHIRO SUZUKI—One of the greatest all-around players in baseball history. Led the league in hits seven times, had a lethal throwing arm in right field, and stole 30 or more bases ten times. I was proud to be his manager in his first two years in the big leagues.
CENTER FIELDER: KEN GRIFFEY JR.—Best player I ever managed, who, in his prime, was the best all-around player in baseball. Had six 40-plus homer seasons for me and, with the possible exception of Paul Blair, was the best defensive center fielder I ever saw.
LEFT FIELDER: RICKEY HENDERSON—The greatest leadoff hitter of all time, he had some injury issues when he played for me with the Yankees, 1986–88, but still led the league in stolen bases two out of those three years, en route to being the all-time leader with 1,406.
DESIGNATED HITTER: EDGAR MARTINEZ—One of my last missions in baseball is to get him in the Hall of Fame. From 1990 to 2001 there wasn’t a more lethal right-handed hitter in baseball. Had 8 homers and 24 RBI in 34 postseason games for me.
RIGHT-HANDED STARTER: JOSE RIJO—Despite some injuries, he won 44 games for me as the right-handed ace of my 1990–92 Reds teams and was 3–0 with a 2.28 ERA in the ’90 postseason.
LEFT-HANDED STARTER: RANDY JOHNSON—When it’s all said and done, the Unit will go down as the greatest, most unhittable left-handed pitcher of all time, with four ERA titles and leading the league in strikeouts nine times.
CLOSER: DAVE RIGHETTI—One of the most unselfish players I’ve ever known. Made the conversion from often-dominant starter to closer at the Yankees’ behest in 1984 and led the AL in saves (46) for me in ’86.
Lou’s All-Red-Ass Team
CATCHER: RICK DEMPSEY—Got his red-ass start with the Yankees with the Pfister Hotel fight with Bill Sudakis in Mil
waukee in 1974, then was greatly influenced by Earl Weaver in Baltimore in the art of ballbreaking.
FIRST BASE: DAVID SEGUI—He got the red-ass from both sides of the plate. Set records for throwing helmets when I had him in Seattle from ’98 to ’99.
SECOND BASE: BRET BOONE—Booney makes two of my all-time teams. Not only was he a productive hitter and elite second baseman, but when he didn’t come through at times, the whole dugout heard about it.
SHORTSTOP: RICK BURLESON—There was a reason they called him the Rooster. Prided himself on his fiery intensity.
THIRD BASE: CHRIS SABO—He made me laugh with his tirades. Very unpredictable. You never knew when he was going to go off at something.
RIGHT FIELD: PAUL O’NEILL—He reminded me a lot of myself, but he was more talented. When it came to being a red-ass, he could do it all.
CENTER FIELD: MILTON BRADLEY—This was one red-ass I didn’t find funny. Had a perpetual chip on his shoulder. Thought everyone was out to get him and set records everywhere he went for ill-conceived clubhouse tirades.
LEFT FIELD: LOU PINIELLA—Can’t leave myself off this team. I’m quite proud of it.
DESIGNATED HITTER: ALEX JOHNSON—Boy, could he hit, but had major temper issues—fights with managers, coaches, teammates, sportswriters—that got him traded five times and sold once.
RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER: CARLOS ZAMBRANO—He could be captain of this team. Seemed like he was good for at least two meltdowns a year with the Cubs. He could pitch, but he was really exasperating.
LEFT-HANDED PITCHER: TED LILLY—Don’t be fooled by the choirboy face. He had quite a temper if things didn’t go his way on the mound and wasn’t averse to taking it out on a watercooler or two.
CLOSER: ROB DIBBLE—See: our clubhouse wrestling match in 1992.
Lou’s Five Best Umpires
NESTOR CHYLAK: He’s in the Hall of Fame for a reason. He was at the end of his career when I first came to the big leagues but was still by far the best ump in the American League, especially on balls and strikes. He also had a great wit about him, and you could talk to him.
BILL HALLER: Extremely consistent, especially in the strike zone. Even tempered. You could talk to him too.
JOHN HIRSCHBECK: You never wanted to disagree with him, because he had a brother and that could lead to double trouble down the road. But he was very sound in all aspects of umpiring and would allow you some leeway if you had a beef.
STEVE PALERMO: As technically sound, especially with the rule book, as any umpire I ever knew. Commanded respect and did have a bit of a short fuse. Would’ve gone down as one of the best umps of all time had he not been cut down and partially paralyzed by a mugger’s bullet in Texas in July 1991.
DUTCH RENNERT: One of the marks of a good umpire is that he’s seldom involved in any controversial decisions or confrontations. That was Dutch. Unassuming and solid in every way.
(NOTE: I’m not including “God,” Doug Harvey, on this list, because I was around him for only a few games during my three years in the National League in Cincinnati.)
Lou’s Top Five Red-Ass Umpires
JOE WEST: “Cowboy Joe” could break balls with the best of them. One particularly hot day in Cincinnati I came running out to argue a call with him when he put up his hands like a stop sign. “Don’t come any further,” he said. “It’s one hundred degrees and if I have to be out here all day, so do you. I’m not throwing you out of this game just because you’re having a lousy day of managing. You should’ve taken your starting pitcher out two innings ago!”
BRUCE FROEMMING: When he was behind the plate, he always had one eye on the dugout. That June day in 2007 when I earned a suspension after getting into it with Mark Wegner, Uncle Brucie was behind the plate and was even more pissed off with me than Wegner was—but for a different reason. They’d had to delay the game to clean all the trash off the field, and after intervening, Uncle Brucie scolded me, saying, “Why didn’t you argue with me instead of the young guy? I’d have thrown you out immediately and we wouldn’t have all this trash on the field. Now you’ve made me miss my dinner reservation and I’m not happy with that.”
RICHIE GARCIA: As fellow Latins from Tampa, we had a lot in common, especially our quick tempers. He had the ability to throw you out of the game in two different languages.
KEN KAISER: Kenny could have a quick hook and definitely didn’t like being questioned. But if you wanted to be assured of a little more leeway with him, you agreed to go to his charity banquet in Rochester.
FRANK PULLI: He liked playing the ponies and having a few cocktails at night, and I always worried about his mood if he’d had a bad day at the racetrack or a long night before. One time, he was umpiring behind home plate and told me when I came out to exchange the lineup cards, “Just so you know, I’ve got a splitting headache, so I don’t want to hear a peep out of you today.”
(NOTE: I want to make a point here that by “red-ass” I’m only saying these guys had short fuses with me. They were all respected umpires. They just didn’t put up with my bullshit.
I would also like to add here that I wish I hadn’t created as many headaches for the umpires as I did. They have a very tough job—a no-win job—and I really respected them. I wish I had managed when they had instant replay. It would have alleviated a lot of arguments I had with umpires and saved me a lot of money in fines. I know I’ve missed a lot more good umpires here, but that’s because, as I said, the best ones are the ones that don’t get a lot of attention.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LOU PINIELLA (nicknamed “Sweet Lou” partly as a description of his swing but more popularly as a facetious reference to his fiery demeanor) has been in Major League Baseball for more than fifty years. He played sixteen seasons with the Orioles, the Indians, the Royals—where he was American League Rookie of the Year in 1969—and, most notably, with the Yankees, where he had key roles in two World Series Championships, of 1977 and 1978.
After Piniella retired from playing, he joined the Yankees as hitting coach, and eventually became manager of the team. He later went on to manage the Reds, the Mariners, the Rays, and the Cubs.
His 1990 Reds team won the World Series championship, and he led the Mariners to four postseason appearances in ten seasons, which included a record 116-win regular season in 2001. His Cubs teams captured back-to-back division titles (2007 and 2008). Piniella was named Manager of the Year three times during his career (1995, 2001, and 2008) and finished his twenty-three-year managerial career ranked fourteenth on the list of all-time managerial wins.
Piniella serves as a special adviser for the Cincinnati Reds and lives with his wife, Anita, in Tampa, Florida.
BILL MADDEN has covered the Yankees and Major League Baseball for the New York Daily News for more than forty years. In 2010, Madden was the recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s J. G. Taylor Spink Award. He has written several books about baseball, including the New York Times bestsellers Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball and Zim: A Baseball Life.
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CREDITS
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover photographs © Ronald C. Modra Sports Imagery Getty Images (front cover); © AP Images / David Kohl (back cover)
COPYRIGHT
LOU. Copyright © 2017 by Lou Piniella. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
All photographs courtesy of the Piniella family unless otherwise noted.
FIRST EDITION
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-06-266079-4
ISBN 978-0-06-269228-3 (BAM Signed)
ISBN 978-0-06-269227-6 (B&N Signed)
EPub Edition May 2017 ISBN 9780062660817
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