Lou wanted McLouth - and could have used him vs. Sox

^
The Bald Truth

Let's start today's post with a little news: A source high in the Cubs organization told me Wednesday that the player Lou Piniella really wanted this past offseason was then-Pirates center fielder Nate McLouth.

Piniella liked the idea of adding McLouth, a left-handed hitter with a live bat, so he could keep Kosuke Fukudome in right field. In fact, Lou liked the idea so much that he specifically asked Jim Hendry to check out trade possibilities. 

I don't know how far the GM got in the process. Maybe the Cubs didn't have enough good minor-leaguers in their system to get McLouth from Pittsburgh. Or maybe Hendry just found it easier to buy moody, injury-prone outfielder Milton Bradley for $30 million on the free-agent market. Regardless, the deal didn't get done and the Pirates ended up trading McLouth to the Braves two weeks ago.

He hasn't hit as well as he did last year, when he made the NL All-Star team, but he still had 10 HRs and 36 RBIs going into Wednesday's action. That's 9 more RBIs than any Cub and 3 more HRs than any North Sider not named Alfonso Soriano. 

Throw in McLouth's fielding, speed, baserunning and hustle, and he would have helped a team desperately in need of all the help it can get.

The Balder Truth

What I took out of the White Sox's 4-1 win Wednesday was that Ozzie Guillen would make a good NL manager and that Piniella is as frustrated as any time since he accepted his sentence to Cubbieland.

Guillen had his guys running and bunting, taking extra bases and squeezing runners home. It always looks good when the players execute well - as was the case with Scott Podsednik's perfect squeeze bunt with Chris Getz charging home from third. 

Ozzie is on a roll, coming off a series victory in Milwaukee (another NL park) in which he thoroughly outmanaged Ken Macha.

Meanwhile, Lou spent his brief postgame media session searching for answers. All he had to offer was a vague reference to stirring up a lineup that already has been shaken repeatedly. 

"I mean, it's getting to the point where I'm gonna have to start making tough decisions and getting different people into the lineup. Look, what we've been through here the past I don't know how many games ... anyway, we'll see ... we'll see ... we'll see ... we'll see."

OK, we'll see. Got it. But will Lou see better baseball than what he's been seeing?

After Ryan Theriot, a notoriously awful baserunner, didn't come home from third on Derrek Lee's fourth-inning fly, Piniella dropped his head into his hands in agony. The Cubs didn't score that inning after having runners on first and third with nobody out - something that's happened again and again over the past 26 games, when the Cubs have averaged 2.96 runs while going 9-17.

"You know ... look ... I ... what can I say? For the most part, yeah, for the most part they are proven hitters. It ... uh ... it ... uh ... it does make it more perplexing. Sooner or later, you gotta start hitting. If not, you gotta give somebody else a chance."

If Lou doesn't sit Soriano - or at least move the absolutely lost $136 Million Man down in the batting order - I will be surprised. Otherwise ... Cra-Z Zambrano batting cleanup, perhaps?

Tough Zell

Maybe both teams had trouble at the plate because bankrupt Tribune Co. honcho Sam Zell didn't authorize his people to turn on the lights at Wrigley Field.

With thick cloud cover enveloping Chicago all afternoon, it was dark in there!

Lou-ism of the Day 

"We'll play him with one foot on the line so he won't have to dive to his right." - Lou, on 3B Aramis Ramirez, who expects to come off the DL next month. (It was a joke, folks.)

Ozzie Being Ozzie

"Lou is getting old and I'm getting poor; every year, I donate too much money to Major League Baseball." - Ozzie, to those who say he and Piniella should be showing more "fire" by getting kicked out of games.

The Quote

"It doesn't really matter now. Sammy isn't going to give his money back to the Cubs. And the Cubs aren't going to give their money back to the fans." - Ex-Cub Brian McRae, in Wednesday's USA Today.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

So now that their heroes aren't even playing .500 ball - dropping below the mediocrity mark with a loss to the hated Sox - is it time for Cubbieland to panic? 

Naturally, Ozzie was more than willing to weigh in on the subject:

"They've got a good ballclub. All respect for St. Louis, Milwaukee, all those teams, the Cubs are gonna be in the pennant race. People in Chicago, relax. Quit panicking. Worry about something else. Worry about the family, kids going back to school and having good grades. Don't worry about the Cubs. They'll be fine."

Fine? Hmmm. 

In the words of a certain flabbergasted manager ... 

We'll see.