Lou rejects notion of "Fired Up"

by Worf on May 29, 2009 7:02 AM CDT Comment 40 comments

Manager Lou Piniella, who didn't meet with the media after the game, would prefer the behind-the-scenes straight talk Reed Johnson recently gave a slumping Bradley over a made-for-TV meltdown.

''Well this is not the WWF,'' Piniella said. ''You know, this is professional baseball. I understand that the fans like a little -- I don't know what you call it, emotion, outburst. They've always liked that, especially by the seventh inning when they've had [a few drinks].

''But, look, baseball has always been a sport where there's been disagreements. But at the same time, you voice your disagreement and you walk away from it and you get back to do what you're getting paid to do.''

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1597588,CST-SPT-cub29.article

My favorite part is where he basically says it is drunken fans who most want to see this garbage.

This team wasn't FIRED UP last night and contrary to the wishiest of wishful thinking by some out here, the Dodgers had no reason to be scared.

With all the ninth-inning drama, this may very well be the most exciting team to score 1.381 runs a game or whatever the hell it's been lately, but they still don't score.

So, who's got the next bright idea to FIRE UP the team?

Should Lilly reach in to Juan Pierre's chest and rip out his heart?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Thank You!!!!

n/t

by timeforachange2009 on May 29, 2009 7:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Fired Up

Is garbage. We don’t need our guys to be fired up, we need them to play good baseball. A guy showing or not showing emotion has no bearing statistically if he is any more or less likely to get a hit. This is also why momentum is fake. If momentum were real, when a team has the momentum they could never lose because how could the other team take it back. Let’s quit the B.S on “Getting Fired Up” and win some baseball games by….gasp, being good at baseball.

If being fired up equated to being good at baseball, then that fire and passion idiot Aaron Rowand would be the greatest baseball player we have ever seen.

by niuhuskie224 on May 29, 2009 7:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

"... fire and passion idiot Aaron Rowand..."

lol

by Tate491 on May 29, 2009 7:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have a small disagreement with your statement

Good baseball is the key but…

You need a guy on a team that keeps you going. Someone that motivates you to drag your sorry behind out there and a guy that hussles and keeps going and does the little things. Rowand may not be Ernie Banks, but he has a place on every team.

The sun will shine in '69

by gaclaudy on May 29, 2009 7:50 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

For real?

Would you trade our CF for Aaron Rowand?

by Tate491 on May 29, 2009 8:36 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If we had an opening...

I don’t see why not, he brings alot to the table, he works hard and he a decent CF but since our CF platoon does the same we are not in the need of him.

The sun will shine in '69

by gaclaudy on May 29, 2009 9:04 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Here’s a hint…every single professional athlete on this planet is a selfish, self-starter. Hell, 95% of all athletes at the collegiate level are the same. It’s why they are successful, it’s what drives them to as far as they are and it allows them to handle adversity much better than Joe Lunchbucket.

There isn’t one player on the current Cubs roster that needs someone to “keep you going”. The guys that need that stuff have been weeded out along the way well before the big leagues.

I’ll agree with the original post…this nonsense about being “fired up” is laughable and purely fiction.

Who needs a stinkin' tag line? What are they for anyway?

by krummy12 on May 29, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

correct

basically, as i have heard it explained, an athlete without an ego is a semi-pro ball player.

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 29, 2009 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Worf the pyromaniac

I think there is something to being fired up. What’s that line from Bull Durham?

Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!

Larry: Lollygaggers!

Skip: Lollygaggers

The saying we have in the Army is, “False Motivation is better than no Motivation!”
Something is need to fire them up, getting them going.

The sun will shine in '69

by gaclaudy on May 29, 2009 7:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good quote...

but you forgot one thing.

“Scare them.”

“What?”

“They’re kids. Scare them. That’s what I’d do.”

Watch the scene again. Crash is nowhere to be found.

This works on the pups, but old dogs aren’t going to care.

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 29, 2009 7:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well yes

Diggin into someone’s behind isn’t going to work if they aren’t scared that you will actually rip their spine out and show it to them.

I think Lou needs to get them out of the funk they are stuck in. Once you screw something up you keep screwing up until something breaks the cycle. I thought the Pirates would do that for us, and it may have. Last night we just got out-pitched. Hopefully tonight, it comes together and the Cubs go on a tear.

The sun will shine in '69

by gaclaudy on May 29, 2009 7:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think they should replace the Gatorade Machine

with a Scotch dispensor, then lets see who wants to be fired up by the 7th

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 29, 2009 7:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It almost worked last night

As I recall the hits started to happen as soon as someone started drinking the Scotch!

The sun will shine in '69

by gaclaudy on May 29, 2009 7:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah well...

the way I feel this morning, if we’re counting on me to win this thing, it’ll be another 100 years.

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 29, 2009 7:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

thats a lot of Scoth drinking

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 29, 2009 7:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

‘’But, look, baseball has always been a sport where there’s been disagreements. But at the same time, you voice your disagreement and you walk away from it and you get back to do what you’re getting paid to do.’’

Which is what Zambrano was trying to do, when the ump bumped him.

Get it right.

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 29, 2009 7:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Drew

I agree with you 100%, but its moot now. Nothing is going to change until MLBPA slams their foot down on Seligs throat to do something about it with the Umpires Union

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 29, 2009 7:59 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know

but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored when discussing the situation.

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 29, 2009 8:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny

how no one connected with the Cubs — not Lou, not Hendry, not any player, not any executive — is calling any attention at all to the alleged bump.

So either it didn’t happen or it’s so miniscule that no one believes it would be worth pursuing.

And if it isn’t worth pursuing, the question then becomes if it was really proportionate for Zambrano to bump the ump back, make his silly gestures, throw the ball, throw the glove and bash around the innocent Gatorade cooler.

It is ludicrous to argue that Zambrano was all calmed down and ready to return to the mound, refereshed by an invigorating forensic challenge and THEN a slight touch by the ump sent him into a tizzy.

Just as it’s ludicrous to think that the outburst was going to do one damn thing to help this team score a run.

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 29, 2009 8:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's actually not ludicrous

when the same type of outburst turned around the ’07 season.

"Pounding sand since 1982...."

by cubswynn on May 29, 2009 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you think Lou knows what turned around the '07 season?

Is Sean Marshall our most dependable starter?

by DGU on May 29, 2009 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Lou's calculated outburst in '07

was meant to be a temporary solution to a problem he saw with the team, that is that they were all wound up too tight, too serious, and it was affecting their play.

When he went out to argue, anyone with a clear view of 3rd knew Angel Pagan was out on the play, but he did it anyway. He was gonna stick up for his guys. It was almost as if he had said, “You wanna see something fellas, here goes.” The players were quoted as having been highly amused by his antics. If anything, it relaxed them, it didn’t fire them up. This probably led them to play better, and it snowballed from there.

When Zambrano had his petulant hissy fit, it was because of a play on which he felt HE was wronged. If Zambrano had gone in there to stand up for Geo on a tag at the plate that the ump “missed,” then that would have been different. I would respect that a little bit, even. But it’s very telling that nobody ran out to defend Carlos, only to pull him away from the ump so his antics would not be more costly than they already were.

"I'll never forget how I felt last October." ~Kosuke Fukudome

by Goodie1969 on May 29, 2009 6:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carlos

needs no one to defend him.

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 29, 2009 7:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just out of curiosity, if that's the case

How do you explain this?

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! --Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on May 29, 2009 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's not me defending Carlos

that’s me complaining about MLB not handling the umpire properly.

Seriously.

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 30, 2009 8:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Need More Fire from Lou; Less Fire from Big Z

Lou would probably throw his back out permanently clawing a base out of the infield dirt these days, but I wish Lou would occasionally show some of the fire he had in his younger days. He seems to be too low-key now. I’d like to see him get in the face of an umpire two times a year. I don’t think that’s too much to ask from someone in his mid-60s. Some fire is good, but uncontrolled conflagrations are bad.

As far as Big Z’s flareup goes, that went beyond showing fire. That was Z becoming the Hindenberg. I would have given him a 10-game suspension for that display. When a temper tantrum goes too long, it doesn’t do anything to help the ballclub.

"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on May 29, 2009 8:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I ahve millions of reasons of why these guys need to play hard

That’s why I love the NFL so much, if you suck, you get cut and not paid. Why does every contract have to be guaranteed??? And the NFL is one sport where the guarantee needs to be the greatest and it isn’t. If money and pride and the love of the game isn’t gonna get you up, then neither is Reed Johnson’s foot in anyone’s ass.

by niuhuskie224 on May 29, 2009 10:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think

the fired up fans on the site were in favor of tossing the ump and the ball toss. Maybe that’s what Lou was talking about. There is a separate argument of the over the top play and getting fired up and showing some emotion.

Z didn’t go bonkers until the bump, I was with him until that.

I think Lou is sometimes calculating with his outbursts through the years, trying to fire up his team. And I’m sure the 7th inning drunk fans love that too.

Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America. ~Bruce Catton

by KaliCub on May 29, 2009 10:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You know who's all fired up?

PAT BENATAR!!!

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 29, 2009 12:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

are you Pat-rolling us?

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 29, 2009 12:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You could not pay me enough money

to click on that there link

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 29, 2009 12:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aw, c'mon.

You’re a heartbreaker…dream maker…lover taker …don’tcha mess around with me!!!

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 29, 2009 1:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

by daily2b on May 30, 2009 4:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just for the record:

I never even used the term fired up. I mentioned that Z’s blow-up, (because it was due to umpire contact), could help foster an US vs. THEM mentality on the team. Thereby bringing them together as a unit.

That is all.

I'm a truth teller, I'm a risk taker, I'm like Johnny Cash - I walk the line...

by Jimmyeatworld on May 29, 2009 12:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I can't figure out your post..

Are you saying that the Cubs, indeed, weren’t fired up last night, contrary to what some BCB people think?, or
Are you saying that It would be bad for the cubs to get fired up and that’s just a delusion of drunken bleacher rats?
Or are you saying that the Cubs aren’t fired up enough and that’s why theire losing?

Should I be fired up?

by DisCUBbobulated on May 29, 2009 1:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I do not believe in firing up

I do not believe a grown man acting like a child is inspirational. I do not believe professional athletes need such antics to do their jobs better.

I believe such tomfoolery only inspires drunken fans.

Is that clear?

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 29, 2009 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for clarifying..

It was an honest question, but electronically a lot of stuff could look like snark, but none intended here. Anyway.. great win today – the best all year. The Cubs are now 1-19 in games where they score less than 4 runs – the exact kinds of games and situations they’ll need to figure out if October success is even remotely an option.

by DisCUBbobulated on May 29, 2009 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you not believe

In anyway that there exists something outside of a player’s talent that has can effect a player’s performance?

I’m not one to believe that the present case is example of something that can inspire players. However not willing to completely discount the affect that external forces can have on a player’s performance.

"Do you want a bunch of duds walking around with their shoulders slumped and having no emotions, no feelings?" Bradley said. "I don’t think the fans want that. I think they want a guy who’s going to get into the game and feel a little bit. I’ve always said, ‘I don’t really play baseball, I feel it.’ "

by Villeslgr on May 30, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs