This is assuming the Cubs can get an early lead, of course.

Lou gets it.

Well, he gets it better than Dusty Baker or Don Baylor, I'll give him that.

Cubs fans crack me up ..
They will deny it with their every breath, but they "Wanted" Dusty, and they 'Wanted' Baylor. Then they couldn't stop kicking them.
How long till Cubs fans turn on Lou. My guess is during a 5 game losing streak come July.
Cubs fans deserve their annual 4th place finishes .. they truly do

Hey, Dusty went to the World Series! He's a winner! He can overcome the Curse, no problem.

They will deny it with their every breath, but they "Wanted" Dusty, and they 'Wanted' Baylor. Then they couldn't stop kicking them.

Horrible people these Cubs fans. Changing their mind about a manager who doesn't deliver? Truly despicable behavior!

I'll just note that while many Cubs fans looked forward to the Dusty-era (most here were pulling for Showalter, if I had an RC cola), I don't think any fans wanted Baylor. Except in the sense that we wanted anyone who'd do better than the horrifying crash of 1999.

Did anyone want Lou? I think we were all too involved rooting for Hendry to get fired to even give much thought about who we wanted to manage...

They will deny it with their every breath, but they "Wanted" Dusty, and they 'Wanted' Baylor. Then they couldn't stop kicking them.

I agree with CFiJ I don't think anybody really wanted Baylor. Baker was popular because Cubs fans were badly wanted a winner. Baker was perceived to be a winner who had just taken his team to the World Series.

That being said I wanted neither and was rather vocal about it. I wanted Davey Johnson to manage the Cubs, and Larry Dierker was my off the wall shoot the moon second choice for manager.

Did anyone want Lou? I think we were all too involved rooting for Hendry to get fired to even give much thought about who we wanted to manage...

I had nothing against the idea of hiring Piniella, and thought that among the real choices, he was just fine. He's a competent manager, and he's probably at an age where he's mellowed enough and has enough experience that he will do a good job. He doesn't try to show off his brilliance as a tactician, and I'm guessing that the ridiculous displays of anger are mostly a thing of the past.

And while I gave credit to Baker for at least having a positive track record, I didn't want him managing the Cubs, and I thought the idea of hiring Baylor, who was run out of Denver on a rail, was ridiculous.

I think Piniella has a tall order in front of him with this organization, so I expect that his relationships with the players, fans and organization will slowly disintegrate. There could be some positives in there too, don't get me wrong, but if Piniella strikes me as one kind of person, he's one who doesn't suffer fools gladly. And he's got a lot of fools to deal with here.

There could be some positives in there too, don't get me wrong, but if Piniella strikes me as one kind of person, he's one who doesn't suffer fools gladly. And he's got a lot of fools to deal with here.

Like who? Hendry? Rothschild? McDonough? The trainers?

Well, spring is the time for optimism, but a "not suffer fools gladly" attitude might be what is needed to make some changes. Maybe Lou getting pissed off is what will force a change of training staff. Dusty seemed to be a very bad influence on Hendry in terms of acquisitions; perhaps over the course of the season Lou will be a better influence. (Not that the off-season would bear that out...)

Lou always complained when he was working with Gillick. I remember the year when he was forced to carry Luis Ugueto on the roster, and he complained all year about that.

Like who? Hendry? Rothschild? McDonough? The trainers?

I don't know. All of them? The entire organization is a culture of foolishness.