Lou Piniella
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Lou Piniella (born August 28, 1943 in Tampa, Florida) is a former Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He graduated from Jesuit High School of Tampa.
Piniella began his professional playing career after the Cleveland Indians signed him as an amateur free agent in 1962. Piniella, at the age of 20, played in his first major league game in 1964 with the Baltimore Orioles. At 24, his second Major League Baseball season was with the Indians. Piniella played for the Kansas City Royals from 1969-1973, winning AL Rookie of the Year in 1969. That was followed by 11 years as a member of the New York Yankees.
He wore uniform number 24 for the Orioles, and 23 for the Indians. His longer stretches were wearing number 9 for the Royals, and 14 on the Yankees.
Piniella coached the New York Yankees in the late 1980s. He then managed the Cincinnati Reds in the early 1990s, winning the World Series in 1990. From 1993-2002, he managed the Seattle Mariners, winning the AL Manager of the Year award in 1995 and 2001. Lou Piniella is now the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' manager.
Often known for his aggressive and sometimes explosive behavior, Piniella is the most ejected manager in the history of Major League Baseball.
In his first two seasons with the Devil Rays, Piniella was able to improve the team somewhat, and they won a franchise-record 70 games in 2004, which was also their first season in which they did not finish last in their division. During the 2005 season, Piniella was very critical of Devil Rays management for focusing too much on the future and not enough on immediate results, and for not increasing payroll quickly enough to field a competitive team (they started the season with a $30 million payroll, which was the lowest in Major League Baseball). Rumors were circling that he wanted the Devil Rays to buy out the remaining year and a half of his contract, but he announced that he would honor the remainder of his contract [1] (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2088626)
External links
- Lou Piniella's statistics on the Baseball Almanac (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=pinielo01) site
- Lou Piniella's bio on the Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/P/Piniella_Lou.stm) site
- Lou Piniella's statistics on the Baseball Reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pinielo01.shtml) site
- Lou Piniella page on Seattle Managers (http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/3477/managers/piniella.htm) siteja:ルー・ピネラ
Categories: 1943 births | 1972 American League All-Stars | Baltimore Orioles players | Baseball managers | Cincinnati Reds managers | Cleveland Indians players | Kansas City Royals players | Major league left fielders | New York Yankees players | Seattle Mariners managers | Tampa Bay Devil Rays managers | People from Florida | New York Yankees managers