Piniella Suspended for 4 Games

By Neil on June 4, 2007 5 Vote 0 Votes

According to several reports out of Chicago, Lou Piniella received a 4-game suspension for his ejection from Saturday's game against the Braves. Piniella served the first game of the suspension on Sunday and will miss the 3-game series in Milwaukee but is expected to return to the dugout for the opening of the 4-game series against the Braves that begins on Thursday in Atlanta.

Alan Trammell will continue to manage the Cubs in Piniella's absence.

The speculation was that Piniella would receive at least a 5-game suspension, if not more, for making contact with Mark Wegner during Saturday's tirade. The report in the Tribune mentioned Piniella's suspension was reduced.

Ryan R

You know another thing that bothers me about the umpires this weekend. That crap with the Soriano homer. In what dimension do the laws of physics allow a ball to either hit the bottom of the basket, or the wall, and bounce straight up? Just by watching it bounce you could tell it hit the wall and caught the inside of the basket. They ulltimitelly got it right, but the crew chief, who was the closest to the ball got it wrong.

Sorry for the rant. Found a tape of my last HS game in which the home plate umpire refused to call strike three, and as a result kept us from going to the state finals. Kind of got me fired up even 12 years later.

Ryan R

Like I said, I hope this isn't MLB starting to crack down on coaches for arguing and getting tossed. They've already taken away the inside part of the plate for the pitcher, since the home plate umpire can at his discretion say that he was doing it intentionally and warn both benches. Its scary to think how far this can go. I hope it ends here.

Jeff in AZ

I thought the ejection was the punishment for the tirade. Since when do we suspend coaches for 4 games when there obviously was no deliberate contact other than the dirt. Good point on the 2b umpire requiring suspension, he launched himself into the middle of the mess. Bullsh#t coach!

Ryan R

Chad,

I agree. How about suspending the HP umpire yesterday for widening the stike zone the last 3 innings. Or how about having umpires actually be accountable for calling a consistent strike zone. I really hope that this isn't leading us down the path of the NBA where the coach can't even say a bad word about the officiating. How many times has Bobby Cox been suspended following an ejection?

Chad Cannon

I agree with John Kruk. This is flat out ridiculous. How many games did the umps get suspended for? The 2nd base umpire and home plate ump were stiff arming Lou. Umps need to realize they aren't the focus of the game. Lou did a great job of drawing attention to himself and getting the media off the back of the team. I love Lou! I think he's going to do what it takes to get this ship turned around.