Glossary
What he said: Ivory
What he meant: Ivy
What he said: Michigan Mile
What he meant: Magnificent Mile
What he said: Karmac the Magician
What he meant: Carnac the Magnificent
What he said: Assimilated game
What he meant: Simulated game
What he said: Stevie Eyre
What he meant: Scott Eyre
What he said: Scott Ire
What he meant: Scott Eyre
What he said: Stevie Ire
What he meant: Scott Eyre
What he said: Vim and vinegar
What he meant: Vim and vigor
What he said: “Go, Cubs, Win”
What he meant: “Go, Cubs, Go”
Bartlett’s Piniella-isms
On the stuff on the outfield wall: “It’s really a nice baseball environment to play in, and I can’t wait for the ivory to turn green. It means the weather is warming up and we’re ready for a long, hot summer of baseball.”
Cold, calculating analysis: “I was telling our general manager today — the way we’re put together as a team, if we play in 40 degrees all year, I don’t think we’re going to do very well because we don’t have that type of team. We have more power.”
Fiery side chatter: “Unfortunately, what people like to show is the fiery side of me. What can I do about it? It’s part of my past, so I guess I’ll live with it. I don’t really like that part of me. I would rather be depicted as a person who’s got some baseball smarts, who you can get along with people, who can motivate people and win some baseball games. But maybe that’ll come after I’m done managing.”
Drink up: “And it’ll be 86 degrees in Cincinnati, too, and we’re going to be drinking pina coladas.”
Lose your way: “You show me a guy that’s a good loser … if you have too many good losers, you’re going to lose.”
Laugh track: “Let’s not get too giggly.”
Tom Skilling knows: “I don’t know, maybe the wind is blowing out on top, and inside the ballpark it’s blowing in. Who in the hell knows?”
Nice conversations
Piniella had a nice conversation with Kerry Wood in the off-season and a nice conversation with Mark Prior in spring training. But his best “nice conversation” might have occurred during his visit to the mound in Cincinnati on a cold April day with the temperature dropping and Ryan Dempster struggling. Piniella was seen saying some profanities during the chat.
Piniella: “I said it was 30 degrees and snowing — get the ball over the plate. You’ll win a ballgame. Make ’em hit it.”
Dempster: “He just came out and said, ‘Trust your stuff.’ It was really nice.”
Lou’s credo
“I am demanding. But I am fair. I give everybody opportunities. The problem is, especially with young kids, they’re not ready. So what do you do?
“I enjoy players. I like to win. And I’ll give people many, many chances. No doghouses. We make it fun, but we make it challenging, and the purpose is to go out and play a good baseball game and win.
“Is everybody going to like you? No. But if you can play baseball, you’ll enjoy playing for me.”
“I’m a manager, not … “
“… a hygienist.”
“… the air-conditioning man.”
“… a meteorologist.”
