Lou Piniella still trying to figure out why his Cubs were swept

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Lou Piniella just addressed the national media for the first time since his NL manager of the year press conference and he's still trying to find an explanation for why the Cubs were swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS.

As you'll see below, he takes quite a circuitous and meandering route.

Says Lou:

"Look, I can give you about three different explanations. I think the biggest explanation for postseason, as far as I was concerned, everybody jumped on our bandwagon. Everybody played the underdog role against, or were able to sell that. Everybody, 100 years, supposed to happen on the 100th year. Well, when things are supposed to happen and it doesn't ... I think our guys carried a little burden going into post-season.
"And then the second thing that happened that wasn't mentioned, we got caught at the end of the year where we were playing teams that were still in contention, and we had clinched. We had to play our lineup for the balance of baseball. We just couldn't just put any lineups out there.
"And then third, DeRosa and our catcher didn't go in there exactly healthy. I have to prepare them better as manager. We have lost six in a row. I mean, you know, I think I'm going to go to a sports psychologist and see what goodies he's got in his bag."

Uh, yeah. Look, I'm not too big of a fan of the whole "bandwagon" excuse (every Cubs team will have to face that until the curse is broken) and the lack of rest at the end of the season qualifies as a poor excuse, too.

When it all comes down to it, I think we're past needing any explanations. Piniella's team didn't show against the Dodgers, simple as that.

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11 Comments

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1 - 11 of 11

1. Posted by Ray Michael Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT
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The Cubs simply did not show up. It wasn't a choke. It wasn't a curse. The team simply did not compete when it needed to do so. They're bringing back a stronger team. With several pending moves this Cubs team should once again dominate the NL. "Should" is a strong word. Either way, I can't wait for baseball season!
2. Posted by Gbdup Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:40 pm EDT
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i cant believe that the merill lynch ceo wants 10 mil this year. the economic crisis is a cause of bad mortgages, houses bought over valued, and companies skimming off the top of their company books. this is enron done legally. enron did it behind their backs, ceo's today will just do it in your face crash the stock and get out without any legal implications. the companys complain that they have lost money when they skim off money from the company. this is similar to what happend in 2000 with the tech stocks except they only skim 20% instead of taking all of it. companies have to have a democratic system where they look for the wellness of the company not their individual pocket. until then the companies will falter and there will be less stock market confidence.
3. Posted by draw Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:35 pm EDT
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I want to know if jerry jones knows that Rom played like he was going to get a check somewhere else, and if you was going to say someone threw a game then that was it
4. Posted by Jazzinefx Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:24 pm EDT
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The Cubs are dogs with fleas. They have been doing the same thing the same way since 1969. I really don't know what will help that franchise.
5. Posted by Saro G Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:46 pm EDT
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It's up to the manager to make sure a team 'shows up,' and Lou is in an 0-2 count now.
6. Posted by Timmy O Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:15 pm EDT
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the cubs got beat. plain and simple. one team wanted to win that series, and it wasn't them. get over it, and let's get ready for spring training.
7. Posted by Breeze Bruin Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:53 pm EDT
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The Dodgers were hot, the Cubs were not. And the Cubs didn't have Manny Ramirez.
8. Posted by Saro G Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:46 pm EDT
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Well, isn't it the manager's responsibility to make a team 'want to win?' You're telling me the 2001 Mariners, who set the regular season win record, didn't want to win any more games in the postseason? Lou can't handle the pressure of the postseason anymore. He's becoming the baseball version of Marty Schottenheimer.
9. Posted by Five_outs Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:54 pm EDT
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Living in Chicago, I get to see and HEAR this crap every year. If the World Series were played at the end of May, they would have a lot of championships. Dominate the NL? I don't think so. They are a crap franchise that can't and probably never willget it done. Every year is a new adventure on failure. They have a large fan base but they are not as much baseball fans as they are alcohol fans. They need to bulldoze that eyesore field and put in strip malls.
10. Posted by YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:31 pm EDT
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Lou,
So wut wuz your excuse for your poor defense, Dempster and Zambrano choking, should I go on? Lou's always been a CHOKER; now you combine that wit being a Cub and you have 2008: Best team in the NL Swept by the Dodgers (who many disrespected goin into the playoffs).
But who cares, Its the Cubs, did you expect anythin different???
11. Posted by PeterN Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:07 pm EDT
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This press conference was actually from several days ago. If Lou had spoken today, he might have mentioned the October extortion Blago's bag men put on certain Cubs players, such as demanding they turn over World Series rings (to adorn the fingers of the Illinois First Lady) in exchange for lenient treatment by the Illinois Department of Revenue.