Giants Hire Lou Pinella
John Shea on a valuable pickup by the Giants . . .
The baseball world loves Lou Piniella. Players, coaches, fans, scribes. As a manager of five teams, including the 1990 Reds, who swept the A's in the World Series, Piniella has had a passion for the game at every level.
From motivating his players (or fighting them, if necessary, considering the Rob Dibble episode) to staring down an umpire to heaving his cap or kicking dirt, Piniella was a winner and a character, and the game can never have enough of those.
Off the field, he's a keen storyteller who'd just as soon have a pop with a group of scouts or beat writers than other guys in uniform and always willing to provide a quip to anyone who followed his career as a player, manager, executive and TV analyst.
He retired from managing in August, more eager to be with his family, citing his mother's failing health, than playing out the string with the Cubs. The good news is that he's not totally gone from the game, and that's where the Giants enter the picture.
The team hasn't made an announcement yet, but The Chronicle learned Piniella, 67, is joining the Giants' front office to consult in a variety of ways, whether it's evaluating or advising on player movement or scouting or . . . well, whatever a baseball lifer of 48 years can provide.
GM Brian Sabean goes back with Piniella to their Yankee years in the '80s, and they've remained tight. Sabean interviewed Piniella to succeed manager Felipe Alou after the 2006 season, but Piniella removed himself from consideration partly for geographic reasons and became manager of the Cubs.
Ultimately, Sabean hired a guy named Bruce Bochy, who oversaw Barry Bonds' final year and ushered in a new era of championship ball.
Apparently, Piniella will be Florida-based like other Sabean assistants in recent years, including Alou and Ron Perranoski. The Giants finally won a championship, and they're adding a guy with three titles to his name, including two in the '70s as a Yankees outfielder. In 18 years as a player, Piniella hit .291.
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