Lou Piniella’s Baseball Hall of Fame snub still stings

You enter a conversation with Lou Piniella ready to be entertained. Not necessarily surprised, though. The beloved longtime player and manager operates without much of a filter, so he has to work pretty hard to surprise you.

Nevertheless, Sweet Lou came through when I brought up the subject of his near-miss in last December’s Baseball Hall of Fame vote by the Today’s Game Committee.

“It was disappointing, truthfully. It really was,” Piniella said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “But it didn’t happen. All I can say is I was disappointed, nothing else. I was happy to see the people that got in, I really was. But personally, I was disappointed. That’s really all I have to say about it. If it happens, it happens.”

The 16-member Today’s Game Committee, which considers people whose primary contributions to baseball came from 1988 to the present, successfully elected closer Lee Smith, who received unanimous support, and designated hitter Harold Baines, who just crossed the required 75-percent threshold by getting 12 votes. Piniella, with 11 votes, trailed Baines by one vote, and that made all the difference.

I told Piniella that I thought he should be encouraged. Missing by one vote is pretty good! Especially when you consider that he easily outpaced folks such as his old boss George Steinbrenner, fellow managers Davey Johnson and Charlie Manuel, and players Albert Belle, Joe Carter, Will Clark and Orel Hershiser. This group will be considered again in December 2021, for induction in the summer of 2022, and though there will be some new additions to the ballot — how about his fellow skipper Dusty Baker? — you stand out when you come so close.

“I hope you’re right,” said Piniella, who turns 76 later this month. With 1,835 wins as a manager, he ranks 16th all-time. Only No. 11 Bruce Bochy, No. 12 Gene Mauch and No. 15 Baker do not have plaques in Cooperstown, and the list of managers ranking beneath him who are enshrined includes No. 22 Tommy Lasorda, No. 23 Dick Williams and No. 26 Earl Weaver. Throw in Piniella’s contributions as a player to the champion 1977 and 1978 Yankees and his colorful personality, and his case looks pretty solid.

Lou takes it pretty easy nowadays, spending most of time in his native Tampa, golfing, fishing and spending time with his grandchildren. He doesn’t watch much baseball, he said, and what he does see doesn’t thrill him.

“I don’t really like it,” he said of the emphasis on power and launch angles. “To me, it takes away from the little intricacies of the game [like hitting] behind the runner. They do all these shifts, and you see very few of them going to the opposite field. Even when you’re behind in the score.

“But listen, that’s the way the game is played now. And I recognize how talented these kids are, I really do. And what great shape they’re in.”

He also misses the days when starting pitchers routinely threw 120 pitches, and added this gem: “Today, a team will carry 13 or 14 pitches on a staff, and when I played, on the world championship teams in New York, we used to carry nine pitchers and 16 position players. That’s a huge change. Here in Tampa Bay, for instance, they start relievers. It’s the darndest thing I’ve ever seen. It is. It really is.

“I don’t think these changes are good for the game long-term. I really don’t. But that’s just my opinion.”

He is never shy about sharing his opinion. This Sunday, at 12:30 p.m., he’ll be at iPlay America in Freehold, N.J., for a fan question-and-answer, meet-and-greet session, and you can expect him to speak filter-free some more. Tickets are available here.

This week’s Pop Quiz question came from Gary Mintz of South Huntington: Name the Hall of Fame pitcher who gets mentioned in a 2018 episode of “The Goldbergs” that features a high-school performance of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Jim Curnal, a New Jersey native who made it as high as Triple-A as a pitcher, still lives in the area and teaches young pitchers, with a focus on using your entire frame to alleviate stress on your pitching arm. Here’s his promotional video:

Your Pop Quiz answer is Sandy Koufax. If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at [email protected].

Source: Read Full Article