Piniella on the Lack of Offense

[TruffleShuffle]

"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," he said. "We have more power in our lineup.

 

"We need to bang it a little more, and once the weather warms up we will. We have more of a fly-ball-hitting team and we don't have as much team speed to play the little ball that you need in this environment. For us, the quicker the weather warms up, the better."

 

 

I'm kind of sad that he didn't say something about how many black and Latin American hitters there are on the roster, and how they weren't bred to play in this type of weather.

[Soul]

Using weather as an excuse = lame.

 

I suppose Houston hitters are more 'suited' to cold weather, being from Houston and all.

 

I think what we have here, ladies and gents, is the first bona-fide stupid Lou comment of the year.

[E.J.]

Wow. That's like straight out of the Dusty Baker school of thought. Next he'll say the dark-skinned players on the team should get more playing time in the summer because they're more suited to play in the heat.

[TruffleShuffle]

Using weather as an excuse = lame.

 

I suppose Houston hitters are more 'suited' to cold weather, being from Houston and all.

 

I think what we have here, ladies and gents, is the first bona-fide stupid Lou comment of the year.

 

well, the astros do have a pretty white team :lol:

[NCCubFan]

well, the astros do have a pretty white team :lol:

Yes they do.

[Sammy Sofa]

You can't blame the weather when there's a whole other team out there that managed to score enough runs to beat you. That's just common sense.

[papabear58]

When you look at the actual mertis of his later part it bears some semblance of reality. We do not have a small ball team. We are hitting the ball up and trying to swing for homeruns (and then getting on top of the ball and driving it into ground outs). In this kind of weather, our team seems unable to adjust to a different style of baseball that is needed. Is this an inditement on a team who won't change their swing for the fences ideals, or on a manager who isn't forcing his team to adjust to the current circumstances?

[CubColtPacer]

I wish Lou hadn't said this, but I could have told you in January that this team was not built well to play in the cold-especially at Wrigley.

 

Basically, Lou is saying that in conditions like this which take the SLG way down for both teams, you have to rely on your OBP and speed, and the Cubs fall short in that department. The Cubs are built to rely on SLG only, and the conditions can sometimes make that impossible (like a football team who relies on its passing game playing in bad weather-the conditions may be the same for both teams, but it hurts the team that relies on the thing being taken away the most). When the weather heats up, the Cubs are supposed to be able to hit for power well enough in order to overcome their OBP and speed deficiencies (not saying those two are equally important).

 

Unfortunately, Lou saying this makes it seem like this is the only reason for the offense not doing well-it's not. Some people just aren't performing, and that's a big reason-this does play a part though.

 

My question to Lou is-if you realize this, then why don't you put in some of your better OBP/speed hitters-you have two of them on your bench ready to go.

[Tomarken]

"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," he said. "We have more power in our lineup.

 

"We need to bang it a little more, and once the weather warms up we will. We have more of a fly-ball-hitting team and we don't have as much team speed to play the little ball that you need in this environment. For us, the quicker the weather warms up, the better."

 

 

I'm kind of sad that he didn't say something about how many black and Latin American hitters there are on the roster, and how they weren't bred to play in this type of weather.

 

I think that Lou is just saying that pitching and defense are not this team's strong points, and that offense tends to slump a little more with the cold weather than pitching and defense. Whether this is true or not is debatable, and I agree with the general consensus here that it's better to not make excuses; but at least Lou is using rationale other than race, # of moving parts, or fishing.

[98navigator]

Before people start jumping to conclusions, it's also important to add these quotes from Lou:

 

Cubs.com

 

 

"Look, I don't want you to misinterpret my statement" "My statement was we hit a lot of fly balls. That was my statement. We've got to play in cold weather the same way the other team does, and we have to win our share of ballgames in cold weather the same way the other team does. I don't want you to misinterpret that we can't win baseball games in cold weather -- that's not what I meant."

 

Also:

 

"It's not the easiest thing in the world to swing a bat in cold weather -- I can tell you that" "I did it for 17 years in the big leagues. If you gave me my preference [of] hitting in 40-degree weather or 80-degree weather, I'd take 80-degree weather all the time.

 

"At the same time, you have to be selective and make the other pitcher pitch" "I think that's what we did in the ninth inning, and we put a nice little rally together and gave ourselves a chance to put the winning run at the plate."

[Sammy Sofa]

Damn additional reading.

[jersey cubs fan]

The nonsense about lacking the team speed pisses me off. Shut up and play the game and quit whining about the weather. The Cubs have as many players with wheels as any team. They don't have anymore lugs than Houston does.

[Soul]

I wish Lou hadn't said this, but I could have told you in January that this team was not built well to play in the cold-especially at Wrigley.

 

Basically, Lou is saying that in conditions like this which take the SLG way down for both teams, you have to rely on your OBP and speed, and the Cubs fall short in that department. The Cubs are built to rely on SLG only, and the conditions can sometimes make that impossible (like a football team who relies on its passing game playing in bad weather-the conditions may be the same for both teams, but it hurts the team that relies on the thing being taken away the most). When the weather heats up, the Cubs are supposed to be able to hit for power well enough in order to overcome their OBP and speed deficiencies (not saying those two are equally important).

 

Unfortunately, Lou saying this makes it seem like this is the only reason for the offense not doing well-it's not. Some people just aren't performing, and that's a big reason-this does play a part though.

 

My question to Lou is-if you realize this, then why don't you put in some of your better OBP/speed hitters-you have two of them on your bench ready to go.

 

It's going to be cold in October, too. I guess we're playing the season for nothing. If we ever make the playoffs, it will be too cold.

 

The Astros are built to rely on Berkman and Lee, and they seem to be doing alright. Our best power, Lee & ARam, are having good starts to their seasons in this cold weather.

 

I'm not going to make too much of the comments. Actually I hope they'll just go away and he doesn't make more Dusty-esque missteps. Nobody blames the weather. If I didn't know better, I'd call that a rookie manager mistake.

[CubColtPacer]

I wish Lou hadn't said this, but I could have told you in January that this team was not built well to play in the cold-especially at Wrigley.

 

Basically, Lou is saying that in conditions like this which take the SLG way down for both teams, you have to rely on your OBP and speed, and the Cubs fall short in that department. The Cubs are built to rely on SLG only, and the conditions can sometimes make that impossible (like a football team who relies on its passing game playing in bad weather-the conditions may be the same for both teams, but it hurts the team that relies on the thing being taken away the most). When the weather heats up, the Cubs are supposed to be able to hit for power well enough in order to overcome their OBP and speed deficiencies (not saying those two are equally important).

 

Unfortunately, Lou saying this makes it seem like this is the only reason for the offense not doing well-it's not. Some people just aren't performing, and that's a big reason-this does play a part though.

 

My question to Lou is-if you realize this, then why don't you put in some of your better OBP/speed hitters-you have two of them on your bench ready to go.

 

It's going to be cold in October, too. I guess we're playing the season for nothing. If we ever make the playoffs, it will be too cold.

 

The Astros are built to rely on Berkman and Lee, and they seem to be doing alright. Our best power, Lee & ARam, are having good starts to their seasons in this cold weather.

 

I'm not going to make too much of the comments. Actually I hope they'll just go away and he doesn't make more Dusty-esque missteps. Nobody blames the weather. If I didn't know better, I'd call that a rookie manager mistake.

 

It's warmer in October than it is in April for one thing. The Cubs should be a little better on offense than they are right now despite the weather, and the rotation would of course be shortened helping things out as well.

 

I'd be upset by these comments if I thought that Lou thought this was the whole problem and that he thought his team was just fine otherwise. He came out and said something you really shouldn't say out loud because the perception of making an excuse is sometimes much bigger than the reality.

 

However, he is right. Cold weather tends to work towards equalizing SLG numbers. Without the SLG advantage, it's going to be much harder for the Cubs to win.

 

The only problem is-when the weather warms up, it will also hurt some of the Cubs pitchers-specifically Lilly, Marquis if he doesn't get ground balls, and Hill (I think he still will be very good, but he won't be quite as good as now when he can make a mistake pitch and have the ball stay in the ballpark).

[98navigator]

Seriously, this is all being taken out of context. Comcast Sports Net showed the entire interview in yesterday's postgame show. The reporters were offering him excuses (probably hoping he'd latch on to one) for why the team isn't clicking offensively. He refused to accept an excuse but he did say that it isn't easy to play in 40 degree weather. He also flatly said that there was no excuse because both teams play in the same environment. He was visibly upset about the path the reporters were trying to take him down which is why he made it a point to clarify.

 

I see this as nothing more than some writers running with isolated quotes rather than giving the full context of the discussion and the followup.

[TheDude]

Using weather as an excuse = lame.

 

I suppose Houston hitters are more 'suited' to cold weather, being from Houston and all.

 

I think what we have here, ladies and gents, is the first bona-fide stupid Lou comment of the year.

 

The Astros aren't hitting either; they have all of 2 hits more than the Cubs in this series. The only difference is the Astros put some hits together in the same inning, and the Astros have a homerun hit by a guy who had already struck out in the inning.

[Chris]

I believe the majority of hits by Houston in the series have been for extra bases.

[RynoRules]

I think many of you are missing his point, and if you weren't looking for Dusty, you might find someone you like named Lou.

 

I thhink he is saying that the team is built on power rather than guys who can get on-base via BBs, singles, etc. This type of team is less effective in cold weather in Wrigley (or anywhere else) b/c the wind is generally blowing in, thus knocking down fly balls. If you read the entire statement, you will note that Lou first brought this up in the context of a discussion he had with Jim Hendry, who he refers to as "the general maanager".

 

If you read these comments carefully and without prejudice, Lou is admitting something here and perhaps being critical of the makeup of the team and the person who put it together. Thus, Lou is talking about something we all have been complianing about for years.

[Wilson A2000]

The Cubs have two of the three best hitters for average in the NL (Lee and Ramirez). They have only hit three homers I think. That will come with time. They are near the bottom as a team in hitting for average though.

[98navigator]

I think many of you are missing his point, and if you weren't looking for Dusty, you might find someone you like named Lou.

 

I thhink he is saying that the team is built on power rather than guys who can get on-base via BBs, singles, etc. This type of team is less effective in cold weather in Wrigley (or anywhere else) b/c the wind is generally blowing in, thus knocking down fly balls. If you read the entire statement, you will note that Lou first brought this up in the context of a discussion he had with Jim Hendry, who he refers to as "the general maanager".

 

If you read these comments carefully and without prejudice, Lou is admitting something here and perhaps being critical of the makeup of the team and the person who put it together. Thus, Lou is talking about something we all have been complianing about for years.

 

I agree with the first part of your statement; Lou was referring to his fly ball team. However, I don't think he was being critical of Hendry or the makeup of the team (just speaking frankly about its makeup) because Lou had something to do with the new player acquisitions and the retention of players who were on the team last season.

[10man]

Welcome to reality, boys. Lou is just as human as the rest of us.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Adam F Everett can hit a home run in this weather. Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Floyd, Jones, Barrett, Murton can't???

[Wilson A2000]

Adam F Everett can hit a home run in this weather. Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Floyd, Jones, Barrett, Murton can't???

 

He gets to hit against Cub pitching though. Blauser was a Cub killer. But he hit against Cub pitching.

[hardcorecubfan]

*L* took the words right out of my mouth, thought of Dusty right away

 

"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," he said. "We have more power in our lineup.

 

"We need to bang it a little more, and once the weather warms up we will. We have more of a fly-ball-hitting team and we don't have as much team speed to play the little ball that you need in this environment. For us, the quicker the weather warms up, the better."

 

 

I'm kind of sad that he didn't say something about how many black and Latin American hitters there are on the roster, and how they weren't bred to play in this type of weather.

[UK1679666180]

If Lou wanted to change the complexion of the team's style of offense and do so, he'd have to improve the defense as well.

 

As bad as the offense was, Soriano had a poor read on the DB in the 1st which cost them some runs and Izturis had a bad game overall.

 

If they wanted to improve defensively and team speed, call up Pie, shift Soriano to left. Also, to improve the team, as far as getting runners start Theriot at SS for Izturis and deal with an Eckstein type of arm for a better approach at the plate, they have similar hands in the field.

 

If those moves are overly dramatic, show some patience.