Former Cubs manager Lou Piniella named as Baseball Hall of Fame finalist

Former Cubs manager Lou Piniella named as Baseball Hall of Fame finalist originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Former Chicago Cubs manager and World Series champion Lou Piniella was named as a Baseball Hall of Fame finalist as part of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot for non-players.

Piniella, who managed the Cubs from 2007 to 2010 and led the team to two playoff appearances and captured a National League Manager of the Year award, had a tremendous career both in the dugout and on the field.

After an 18-year playing career that included an American League Rookie of the Year award, an All-Star appearance and two World Series championships, Piniella embarked on a stellar managerial career.

First taking the helm with the last team he played for in the New York Yankees, Piniella quickly made himself one of the league's elite skippers after winning a World Series with the Cincinnati Reds during his first year managing the club in 1990.

After three seasons in Cincinnati, Piniella would go on to manage some of baseball's most exciting teams with the Seattle Mariners, leading the franchise to their first-ever playoff appearance while also tying the MLB record for regular season wins in 2001, with a staggering 116 contests won.

Piniella came up short on playoff success with Seattle, and then spent three years managing his hometown Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Despite a lack of success with the expansion club, Piniella did lead the team to a 12-game winning streak in 2004 that helped lift the Devil Rays to their first season outside of last place in the AL East.

After a season away from baseball in 2006, Piniella began the final stop of his managerial career, taking over for Dusty Baker with the Cubs prior to 2007.

Following a season in which the Cubs lost 96 games, Piniella was viewed as an instrumental piece to a mid-season turnaround in 2007, which ended up being the first of two consecutive NL Central titles for the Cubs.

Unfortunately for Piniella and the North Siders, the Cubs were swept out of the NLDS in both seasons, and came up short for the playoffs in Piniella's final full season with the club in 2009.

Piniella announced in July 2010 that he intended to retire after season's end, and would go on to resign as manager the following month to care for his ailing mother.

In his career as a big league manager, Piniella posted a record of 1,835 wins and 1,713 losses, with 23 wins and 27 losses across 50 postseason games.

In addition to Piniella, several other former big league managers are finalists to be enshrined in Cooperstown.