Ozzie Guillen’s foray into the Twitter world was a big deal today at Spring Training. For realsies. Because this is Spring Training, and sometimes we can only take so much of “Player-X-is-in-the-best-shape-of-his-life” profiles.

But yeah: Here’s a whole article about it from the Sun-Times’ Web site, in which Kenny Williams can only shake his head about Ozzie’s new found fame in the social media game. He seems legitimately upset Guillen is on Twitter now. This story is just all kinds of awesome.

But wait! There’s more!

Reporters also asked Lou Pineilla about Twitter today, and he had a fun response. From the Trib:

“What is Twitter?” Piniella said Wednesday.

“First of all, I don’t know how to Twitter,” he said. “And second of all, I’m not going to learn how to Twitter.”

“… I’m really not a Facebook or Twitter guy,” he said. “I’m a prime-rib-and-baked-potato guy. I hate to say that, but it’s true.”

But hey, don’t forget: Just because Lou isn’t a Twitter guy doesn’t mean he’s not still a North-Side guy.

Remember when?

Remember when Carlos Zambrano said he was lazy and didn’t like to do ab workouts? If not, you can read this, and it will get you up to speed.

The dude can really bring the heat and has been unstoppable in some outings, but he does always seems to be a little, um, out of shape.

Well, what if I told you Carlos Zambrano showed up early to Spring Training to work out, and is already down in Arizona? What if I blockquoted Lou Piniella gushing about how he looks now?

Is that something that would interest you?

From the Tribune:

“Carlos was a little heavy last year, there’s no question,” manager Lou Piniella told fans at the Cubs Convention. “He’s another player (besides Geovany Soto) we had a nice conversation with toward the end of the year … He looks absolutely wonderful, and I think you’ll see a heck of a better performance from him just because of that.”

This is probably the most cliched heading-into-the-season storyline there is — player x is in great shape; you will see him do better things this season — but the way Zambrano’s attitude was last season as compared to right now seems to have changed for the better in regards to fitness.

After just nine wins last season, the new attitude is something that could suit him and the Cubs well come this season.

Until he breaks their next Gatorade dispenser, of course.

So Ryne Sandberg has been promoted from Double-A to Triple-A. He’s now the manager of the Iowa Cubs. If you’ve been following his career path, you know he was the team’s Single-A manager for two years, he spent only last year at the Double-A level, and now he’s a step away from the big leagues.

So this all begs the question: When does he take over for the big-league Cubs? Lou Piniella’s contract only runs through the end of this season. He’s yet to sign an extension. And even if he would like to stay on beyond this year, the Sun-Times points out Piniella’s extension will only come to fruition if the Ricketts family is cool with it. And who knows if that’s the case? There’s a lot of front-office uncertainty right now with the Cubs, including GM Jim Hendry’s status going forward.

Say the Cubs have a pretty good season next year, but fail to advance far in the playoffs. Or say that even have a bad season. What better way for the new owners to make a splash than for them to bring in Ryne Sandberg from Triple-A, a guy that wants the job, a guy Cubs fans will absolutely eat up, a guy that likely deserves a shot at it?

The Cubs would be smart to nip this in the bud, though. The more speculation on all this, the more distraction it’s going to cause. Either Piniella or Hendry or Ricketts needs to come out and just say Piniella’s status is an issue that’s not going to be broached until the end of the season. Say his performance this season will be part of the decision process, and that’s that.

Because if they don’t, all the questions are going to make Lou angry. And no one wants to see an angry Lou, do they?

According to Buster Olney, next year might be Lou’s last (Insider only):

Lou Piniella has told others that one way or the other, 2010 will be his last season managing. Now, keep in mind that Piniella is at the end of what has been an enormously disappointing season for the Cubs; Piniella saying he doesn’t want to manage past 2010 to friends is a little like an exhausted parent saying he/she doesn’t want to have any more kids after putting a rowdy toddler to bed at 9 p.m. Consider the context.

Context is important here, for sure. It’s been a frustrating year on the North Side. Yet, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings about Piniella’s future: back in April, he talked about only looking at this year and next year. (The Cubs have an option on his contract for next season.) This season’s outcome has likely only intensified his feelings about getting out after 2010.

And think about this: we haven’t seen Lou be Lou this year. Sure, he had that shouting incident with Milton Bradley back in June, but he’s been tame this year, tamer than we all know Piniella to be. With the way the season has gone, you’d think he’d have shown more fire.

Is it a sign he doesn’t care, or is disaffected by the season? A sign he wants out? Maybe, maybe not.

But if Cubs fans were hoping Lou would be the guy to bring a title to the North Side, next season might be the last ride on the merry-go-round.

I’m sure you don’t need to be told that the Cubs’ season to date has been frustrating. They caught up to the Cardinals in May, only to immediately dive into a free fall. They caught up with them again at the beginning of August, only to take another nosedive.

Given the high expectations set upon this team in 2009, and given the subsequent disappointment, you probably don’t want to read a season recap. But you still have to take your medicine, so I offer a compromise. After the jump are 123 images of Lou Piniella’s face, one for each game played this season to date. The happier he looks, the longer the winning streak. The angrier he looks, the longer the losing streak. You should be able to scroll down this post and glean an essential understanding of the 2009 Cubs within ten seconds.

Ready? GO!

Keep reading →

As it turns out, America is not actually in a war on drugs. Or in Iraq. Or against calories. Or gas guzzlers. It is in a war against something more sinister. More terrible. More damning the the moral fiber of this great country.

Jaywalking. Yes. Jaywalking. It wasn’t too long ago White Sox GM Kenny Williams tried crossing the street against the light, and the Seattle police slapped him with a $56 ticket. And yesterday in San Diego?

Lou Piniella felt the strong arm of the law. He received a jaywalking warning when crossing the street in the Gaslamp District.

Are the police profiling Chicago baseball management types?

“They might be,” Piniella said with a laugh. “Kenny can afford it more than me.”

I have a feeling if Ozzie Guillen is next in this baseball profiling epidemic, he won’t take it so lightly.

The Cubs beat the Nationals 6-2 last evening, which drops Jim Riggleman’s interim managerial record with the team to 0-1. It was a nice start to the Cubs’ second half, but it was against the lowly Nationals. Time will still tell on whether this team starts performing like they should be.

Anyway, before last evening’s baseball game, in a move set up by Cubs fans Geroge Will, the political writer, and David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, Piniella got to eat lunch with seven of his family members at the White House.

And then the President himself stopped by to chat:

”He was very personable with my grandkids and with my wife and children, and I was very appreciative,” said Piniella.

Piniella said that his chat with Obama involved no baseball talk and that there was no mention of the Sox warmup jacket the president wore during the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game.

”His top advisers are Cubs fans, so we’ve still got a chance,” said Piniella, who dined on a Chicago dog at the White House. ”I did talk baseball with David and a little bit with [chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel. We talked about the prospects of the Cubs in the second half of the year. We didn’t talk about the prospects of the White Sox.”

This is a point rarely brought up: disagreement among the White House ranks. There are, in fact, Cubs fans in high positions within Obama’s staff.

Here, all along, I thought political bodies were in agreement 100 percent of the time. Silly me.