Lou Piniella played the game hard, but he managed harder and I loved watching his intensity. I loved it so much that I literally hated his guts when he managed the Seattle Mariners and beat us in 1995. 
I hated him because that was our game to win and Don Mattingly needed a championship that year. It still haunts me like when the Sox swept us in 4 straight in 2004. The point is I hated Lou because Lou was good at what he did. Many players didn’t get along with Lou. I remember when we interviewed Paul O’Neill (read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW PAUL O’NEILL.) While Paulie never came out and say he didn’t like Lou, he did choose his words wisely when he answered my question about Lou and I came away from that interview thinking there was tension in that Reds clubhouse. Maybe I'm wrong.
Here's my question and Paul's answer about Sweet Lou:
BYB: As a kid I always loved Lou Piniella. What was it like to play for him with the Reds?
Paul O'Neill: Demanding. I respect Lou. He was explosive like me but you can’t doubt his professionalism. He understood we were there to win first and foremost. You never wanted to give Lou anything but your best. He’d notice. He taught me a lot about hitting and wanted me to hit the ball over the fence more. He is pretty much an icon now. One of the few to win it all as a player and manager. There is something pretty memorable about that.
Over the years, Sweet Lou’s mellowed out. You could see he was getting older with the Cubs role and he just couldn’t turn that team around. Last season we was an advisor for the San Francisco Giants probably just to stay around baseball a little longer and give his thoughts on stuff here and there. After all, there’s no question Lou is a smart baseball man, but now, we have the pleasure of seeing Sweet Lou again because he'll be joining the Yankees broadcast booth. Read HERE.
Piniella’s funny to me. I like that he says what’s on his mind and that combination with Paul O’Neill, Kenny Singleton, John Flaherty, Well, it will either be a very awkward season in the booth, or they may gel better than Messer, White and Rizzuto and I know that’s hard to do.
To be honest, I’m glad Piniella’s back. Look, it’s true, he’s an old man now, but he has had baseball success for a long, long time. He was part of the Bronx Zoo, and before that with the Royals and started out on the Pilots and Indians, I have this card in my collection below:
Lou may be a dinosaur but the most important thing is he’s back home where he belongs and as we embark on 2012 with another great season of Yankee baseball, I can’t help but to get excited about what's about to unfold. Go Yanks! Welcome home Lou.
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