I have an idea. Those who report professionally or recreationally blog about Chicago Cubs baseball must refrain from using “surprise” when referring to Lou Piniella’s managerial decisions.
On Wednesday, Piniella announced a “surprise” awaited those traveling to Surprise, AZ, for the Cubs spring training game against Texas. Thursday, Piniella’s surprise took shape as he moved Alfonso Soriano to the second slot in the batting order, in what many believed to be an almost certain acknowledgment of Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts arrival to the Cubs.
Moving Soriano from his customary lead-off position down the lineup can be considered anything but a surprise. Since the middle of the 2007 season Piniella has bandied about the idea and even attempted it for a brief time till Soriano’s lack of production forced a move back.
If anything, it’s always been surprising to me why managers persistently try to make Soriano into the next Rickey Henderson, when the greater chore is turning him into the first Alfonso Soriano. With a career OBP barely over .300 and a 40-home run swing, the real question overlooked is, “Why did it take so long?”
Into his second season at the Cubs helm, Piniella’s surprise lineup changes are about as clever as an adult asking a three-year-old to “pull his finger.” The results are about as surprising, too.
Just this spring, free agent signee Kosuke Fukudome has batted second, third, back to second and now fifth in the Cubs order. Or who can forget Ryan Dempster emerging from a meeting with Piniella last season and announcing his role as the Cubs fifth starter? That lasted all of about a few hours when Dempster told reporters he misspoke.
Some might call Piniella’s lineup shuffling part of his managerial prerogative. Others might say it’s impulsive-compulsive behavior.
If Piniella really wants to surprise Chicago Cub baseball fans, he could deliver a World Series championship. That’d be as surprising as Sam Zell selling Wrigley Field naming rights and donating the money to charity.
Except that wouldn’t be a surprise. That would be an outbreak of insanity.
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