The Cubs announced their new manager yesterday -- by simply removing the "interim" from Mike Quade's title. But was this the right decision? Some, like the Tribune's David Haugh, applaud the team's hiring of a baseball lifer who guided the team to a 24-13 record to close out the season after Lou Piniella stepped aside to tend to his ailing mother. Across town, the Sun-Times' Rick Telander thinks that Jim Hendry simply hired one of his buddies as though the Cubs are some sort of city department. more ›

As written her earlier in the week, the Streak is now 102 years and counting for the Cubs. With the Ricketts family finally in control of the team and a marketing campaign geared toward the notion that the new ownership wanted nothing more than a title, the Cubs instead went out and had one of their more disappointing seasons in recent memory. more ›

In the last two editions of their weekly feature "Weakside/Strongside," The Onion has broken down two Chicago sports figures: Lou Piniella and Scottie Pippen. We dug through the archives and came across a few others that are pretty entertaining in their own right with a Chicago connection. more ›

We're a few days past Lou Piniella's bittersweet farewell (emphasis on bitter, thanks a lot, bullpen) to the Cubs but tributes and thoughts on Lou's departure are still trickling out. From ESPN debating whether or not Lou should be in the Hall of Fame (we say "yes" and most others agree) to You Tube user bobjrj101's reminiscing, everyone is weighing in one form or another. GawkerTV has this little video compilation of some of Lou's (in)famous tirades while the Tribune runs down readers' favorite Lou moments. more ›

Somewhat stunning news out of Wrigley today where Lou Piniella will manage his final game as Cubs manager this afternoon after announcing he would retire effective at the conclusion of today's game. Citing family reasons, Lou will wrap up his stint as Cubs manager after today's game. In a statement, Lou said: more ›

While many speculated the move, it's finally been confirmed this afternoon that Lou Piniella, the oft-criticized manager (this year, anyway) of your Chicago Cubs, will retire at the end of the season. As the team continues to struggle, and with Piniella in the final year of his contract, the announcement comes at little to no surprise. This is essentially the nail in the coffin for an aging team that was a juggernaut in the National League just two years ago but missed its window of opportunities. The next logical step for the organization is to blow it all up, sell off the overpaid, underachieving "stars," and start from scratch. [Ed's note: And fire Hendry. But, oh God, if he stays, keep Colvin and Castro, for the love of God. - M.G.] more ›

The Cubs have reached an agreement with Carlos Zambrano's agent and MLB's Players Union on how to handle the hot-tempered pitcher after Friday's outburst. The team will switch Zambrano from the suspended list to the restricted list starting today - which means he's back on the payroll - and also enter a 'treatment' program. The move means Zambrano will be away from the team through at least the All-Star Break and the team has called up Jeff Stevens to take his spot. No one involved has elaborated on exactly what kind of 'treatment' Zambrano will undergo but it seems pretty obvious it'll be for behavioral/anger issues. After all, this is not exactly the first time Zambrano has been involved in an outburst with a teammate (or an outburst in general). From ESPN: more ›

We know Sweet Lou has said he's coming back for 2010, the last year on his contract, but beyond that, what's the future for the Cubs? Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg is making no secret about his desire to coach the Big League team. Sandberg guided the Cubs' AA affiliate to the Southern League championship which would certainly help his resume. As for what awaits him, Sandberg says, "I'm just waiting to see where I'll be headed next year, and to continue to contribute to the organization and gain experience and really enjoy it along the way." [Tribune] more ›

Have no fear, Cubs fan. Even though your team is having an awful August (7-12, losers of four of their last five), your manager isn't going anywhere. With the recent team slump and the finalizing of the sale of the team to the Ricketts family, we suppose there were bound to be whispers Lou would set sail after '09. Not so, Piniella tells the Sun-Times: ''I'm planning to come back next year." Of course, a lot can happen between now and the first week of April 2010 but we'll go ahead and take Lou at his word. And, while we're at it, buy him a boat-load of Pepto-Bismol to deal with that bullpen. more ›

We hate being yelled at by the Traffic Management ladies in yellow vests for stepping out into a crosswalk too early. Of course, if you're Lou Piniella, yelling won't really phase you. A week after Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams was ticketed for jaywalking in Seattle, Cubs manager Sweet Lou nearly got the same in San Diego. So is Chicago's baseball elite just that disrespectful of the law or are those Left Coasters just that vigilant? Lou got off with just a warning, which is good to him. Said Lou, "Kenny can afford it more than me." Of course, if we had the bullpen issues that Lou does, you'd be pretty likely to find us randomly roaming the streets of whatever city we were stuck in, mumbling incoherently to ourselves, too. [Tribune] more ›

Another week, another great war of words between the North Side baseball team and they're South Side counterparts. Cubs manager Lou Piniella started things when he pointed out the attendance spike at U.S. Cellular Field for the Cubs series, which was much larger than attendance at last week's Sox games versus the Dodgers. Never one to mince words about either team, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen replied, "Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans. They know we're [expletive]...Wrigley Field is just a bar." Of course, it didn't help matters that Piniella had previously accused White Sox security members of leaking information about the Lou-Milton Battle of the Head Cases to reporters. But, hey, at least we have one more Sox-Cubs game left, a make-up from a first-round rain-out, in which to see tempers boil over. [Tribune via Deadspin] more ›

Cubs catcher Geovany Soto tested positive for pot at this year's World Baseball Classic, meaning he's banned from international play for the next two years. Meanwhile, he will face no disciplinary action from either the Cubs or Major League Baseball. In a statement released by the team yesterday, Soto said: more ›

He may be known as "Sweet Lou" to Cubs fans, but Lou Piniella sure doesn't feel that way towards EPSN's baseball analyst Steve Phillips after his recent comments on Chet Coppack's radio show. Appearing on ESPN 1000 with Coppack, Phillips accused the Cubs skipper of lacking patience with Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome last season. more ›

The Chicago Cubs today continued to somehow make their bullpen worse via acquisitions when they traded infielder Ronny Cedeno and pitcher Garrett Olson to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for pitcher Aaron Heilman. Heilman is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation, which makes perfect sense given his career that boasts just one season with a winning record and three seasons (out of six) with an ERA over 5.00. Heilman had previously caused conniptions for New York Mets but had recently been shipped to Seattle in a blockbuster trade. As Al over at Bleed Cubbie Blue puts it, "Essentially, it boils down to Pie and Cedeno for Heilman and Henry Williamson." more ›

So does Sweet Lou have to fear for his job? Not quite yet we suspect, but the North Siders have promoted former Cubs great Ryne Sandberg to manager of their Double-A affiliate, the Tennessee Smokies. Ryno had previously managed the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, guiding them to 71-68 and 60-78-1 records in '07 and '08. That's all it takes to earn a promotion in the minors? Of course, we're sure his Hall of Famer status and high profile within the organization means he's cut a little slack. more ›

Um...really? Don't get us wrong: it's great to see the Cubs capture more postseason hardware and we thought Lou did a pretty swell job and all but given the way the Cubs shat the bed in the playoffs and the job Charlie Manuel did with the Phillies - who, you know, actually won the World Series - or even Torre out in L.A., we were surprised to learn that Lou Piniella has been recognized as National League Manager of the Year. Even more surprising is the fact that Manuel was a distant second place in voting, 103 points to 67. (In case you were wondering, Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon won in the A.L.) more ›

This is one of the more ridiculous things to come out of the mouth of a ridiculous governor (which is saying something): at the Cubs rally yesterday in Daley Plaza, Gov. Blagojevich said:

When you're the executive, you've gotta make decisions and you've got to go through the ups and the downs...Sometimes when I'm arguing with the Legislature, I feel like Lou Piniella arguing with the umpires. Some of the times I have to make decisions as governor, I ask myself, 'What would Lou do?' Then I make some decision.

Chicagoist loves Google Maps as much as anyone and we especially love the strange scenes occasionally captured by Google's Street View shots. For whatever reason, Chicago seems to be the epicenter of getting caught in the act -- from frisky coeds in the suburbs to drug deals on the South Side. more ›

The Bus Tracker program will include 18 additional routes starting Monday, May 19. [Trib] more ›

Well, that didn't take long, did it? The Arizona Diamondbacks finished off the Cubs 5-1 on Saturday, sweeping the NLDS ... and delaying a Cubs World Series at least another year. Those of us familiar with the Cubs knew what to expect from Game Three as a soon as Rich Hill's very first pitch to Chris Young ended up in the left-field bleachers. Hill was lucky to escape the inning down only 2-0, and he... more ›

In Game One of the NLDS, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 3-1, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The big question is whether Cubs skipper Lou Piniella pulled Carlos Zambrano too soon. The Cubs ace was dealing, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight. The Diamondbacks' Brandon Webb matched Zambrano pitch for pitch, resulting in a 1-1 tie after the sixth. Yet Piniella pulled Z after six innings... more ›

The Cubs now have fewer than ten games remaining on their schedule, and after Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, they sit alone atop the NL Central — the Brewers lost to the Astros in extra innings. Lou Piniella's short-rest experiment worked Wednesday night, as Ted Lilly looked sharp, pitching seven innings while allowing two runs and striking out eight. While he didn't earn the victory, he kept the Cubs close enough that... more ›

Athletes these days just don't have nicknames like they used to — isn't that right, Fred? more ›

Is that a goat we hear bleating? Because no sooner do the Cubs climb into a tie with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, they lose one of their top sluggers to injury. Alfonso Soriano landed on the disabled list on Monday, after tearing his right quadriceps in Sunday night's game against the New York Mets. Attempting to run from first to third on a Ryan Theriot single in the third inning, he came... more ›

When the Cubs hit rock bottom on June 2, they had just lost their sixth game in a row -- Lou Piniella had just thrown his on-field tantrum, and only a day earlier Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett went at it in both the dugout and the clubhouse. The Cubs sat at 22-31, nine games below .500 and 7 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central standings. Their dramatic 5-4 win over... more ›

While our White Sox managed to tie the KC Royals in the AL Central basement earlier this week, the Cubs are quickly closing in on the other end of the standings. Ted Lilly had another strong outing for the Cubs, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Wednesday night. With the win -- combined with the Milwaukee Brewers' loss -- moved the Cubs to within just two games of first in the NL Central. The... more ›

On this -- officially the slowest sports day of the year -- we will take the opportunity to look back at the first half (or so) of the season for the Cubs and Sox. Fans of both teams entered the season with high expectations. Has either team lived up to those expectations? Cubs After spending a ton of money on free agents during the off season, the Cubs sit in second place in the NL... more ›

In a trade that was surprising in its swiftness, the Cubs traded embattled catcher and "good guy" Michael Barrett (or "number 8" for those of you who don't visit Wrigley Field for the baseball) and cash to the San Diego Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league prospect Kyler Burke. The trade closes the book on Barrett's three-plus years as a Cub, a time marked by emotional outbursts, an uncontrollable temper, suspect defensive... more ›

The fireworks continued to fly this past weekend at the again-not-so-Friendly Confines. Derrek Lee became the latest member of the Cubs to throw a punch, when he went after San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young in the fourth inning after being plunked on the hand by a pitch. The altercation led to a bench-clearing brawl. In addition to Young and Lee, Padres pitcher Jake Peavy and Cubs hitting coach Gerald Perry were also tossed from... more ›

With the Cubs' season rapidly spiraling out of control, all hell broke lose at the formerly "friendly confines," beginning with Friday's matinee. Unable to beat their opponents of late -- and perhaps too used to beating themselves on the field -- the Cubs began beating on each other instead. Television cameras captured for all to see, a fight between pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett in the Cubs dugout following a rough inning that... more ›