New York Yankees.

Date of birth: August 28, 1943 Tampa, FL

High School:  Jesuit HS (Tampa, FL)

College: University of Tampa

Nickname: Sweet Lou. He was pretty sweet.

First Impression; This is a good card, looks like Lou just roped one.

Career stats player: Lou got a cup of coffee in Baltimore in 1964 and one in Cleveland in 1968. He was drafted by the Seattle Pilots from the Cleveland Indians as the 28th pick in the 1968 expansion draft. Before playing for Seattle he was traded to the Royals for John Gelnar and Steve Whitaker. Gelnar would go 3-10 for Seattle the next year and Whitaker hit .250 in 69 games.

Beyond losing two guys who didn’t produce the Royals acquired the guy who would win Rookie of the Year in 1969. He would remain with the Royals until 1973. He had his best year in 1972 when he was an All-Star, led the league in doubles, hit 11 homers and .312.

In 1973 Lou would join what would later be the chaotic New York Yankees. The Royals traded him with Ken Wright to the Yankees for Lindy McDaniel. Ken Wright pitched 5.2 innings for the Yankees in 1974 and then be out of baseball. As for the man they dealt for Lou, Lindy, he himself was a former All-Star in 1960! He was strictly a bullpen arm and at the time of the trade was 37. He pitched two OK seasons in relief for KC.

So this trade really puzzles me. Piniella was 30 when they traded him, but in his time with KC he hit .286. They threw in another player who was a non factor and they got a guy on his last leg for two seasons? This was an amazing deal for the Yankees. Piniella would be even better for them, and over double the time. In his time with NY he hit .295, he had individual seasons of .305, .330, .314 and his last 3 years were .307, .291 and .302, admittedly all with decreasing action as his last season he had 98 at bats.

All Time Stat: Though Lou played for 4 franchises he only had hits with two. He would play in 1037 games with NY and have 971 hits, whereas in KC he played 700 games and had 734 hits. So he did well for both franchises. But got the ultimate prize with two rings as a Yankee.

Career stats manager: 1835-1713. Buckle up this is our first guy with 5 stops! He never left NY, he was their hitting coach after he retired and then was hired to manage the club, replacing Billy Martin TWICE. The first time was a 2 year stint ’86-87, then both they hired Martin back and then fired him in 1988, with Piniella taking over the 2nd time and then being let go himself again at the end of that year. The nuttyness that he saw on the field; being a part of the Martin/Jackson saga and the George/Billy saga.

And the downer of it all was the Yankees won 90 and 89 games under Lou. Even when he took over the 2nd time for Martin they went 45-48. So Lou said, ok, I am no longer going to be involved with teams with owners whose brains are doing donuts in the parking lot. That is until Marge Schott called and offered him the Cincinnati job. And they Piniella brought his NY chaos to Cincy. He brawled with Rob Dibble in the dugout once, like a full “meet me after school” type incident. That was mostly after they tore through the league in 1990 and won the World Series.

During an August 1991 game Piniella had a heated confrontation with umpire Gary Darling, who had overturned a call that cost the Reds a home run, and after the game Piniella accused Darling of being biased against the Reds. “Can you believe that, in this day and age, prejudiced against the Reds?” Tommy Devito. Lou got sued for that one and had to settle out of court. Marge refused to pay his defense. He did not accept a contract extension and upon leaving someone thought they might have heard him say, “I can’t run a ballclub when the owner’s biggest advisor drools on the paperwork.”

Lou flew West and landed in Seattle. When Lou Piniella arrived in Seattle before the 1993 season, the Mariners were still a franchise searching for an identity. They had never reached the postseason, had never finished higher than third place, and were better known for individual stars than team success. Piniella, already a World Series–winning manager with the Reds, was brought in to change the culture — and he did.

From the beginning, Piniella’s intensity stood out. He pushed a young roster that included Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martínez, Jay Buhner, and later Alex Rodriguez. His approach wasn’t subtle: he demanded accountability, insisted on fundamentals, and expected players to match his competitive fire. Seattle had talent; Piniella gave it direction.

The turning point came in 1995, a season that reshaped the franchise. After a midseason surge and a dramatic late‑season comeback to catch the Angels, the Mariners forced a one‑game playoff for the AL West title. They won it, and then beat the Yankees in the Division Series — capped by Edgar Martínez’s iconic double and Piniella’s fist‑pumping sprint from the dugout. It was the Mariners’ first postseason appearance, and it saved baseball in Seattle, helping secure the construction of what became T‑Mobile Park.

Piniella stayed through the late ’90s as the roster evolved. Randy Johnson was traded, Griffey and A‑Rod eventually departed, but Piniella kept the team competitive. In 2000, the Mariners returned to the postseason, reaching the ALCS.

2001, became the defining season of his Seattle tenure. With a roster built on depth rather than superstars, the Mariners won 116 games, tying the MLB record for most wins in a season. They reached the ALCS again, falling to the Yankees, but the season cemented Piniella’s reputation as one of the best managers in the game.

He won AL Manager of the Year twice with Seattle (1995 and 2001). Following the 2002 season, Piniella requested out of his final year with the Mariners to manage the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. As compensation, the Devil Rays traded outfielder Randy Winn to the Mariners for infield prospect Antonio Pérez.

So Lou went home, his real home, Tampa. The Rays were 55-106 the year prior under Hal McRae. They never lost 100 with Lou but came close, losing 99, 91 and 95. Lou expected TB to spend NY money, there is no economic market for that in Tampa. There still isn’t.

After Lou stepped down in Tampa he took some time and then decided to take over for Dusty Baker and the Cubs in Chicago. He would win his 3rd manager of the year award, his first in the NL. But the Cubs did not win a playoff game under Piniella. He managed most of the next two years and said he wanted to retire to care for his mother.

Fun Fact: Sweet Lou had a sour temper. Of the managers in our list, he was tied with Clint Hurdle for most ejections. Check out the EJECTION PAGE for more analysis on Lou and some of his other hot tempered buddies.

Ever a Future Star?  He was on 3 rookie cards. 1964 Senators Rookie Stars with Mike Brumley, 1968 Topps Indians Rookie Stars with Richie Scheinblum and 1969 Topps Pilots Rookie Stars with Marv Staehle. The ’68 and ’79 cards used the same photo for Lou. Interesting that of those 3 cards he played 6 games with 6 plate appearances for Cleveland. On the heels of his ROY award, they gave him a solo card with the All-Star Rookie Trophy.

Rookie or final card? No and he would get manager cards in 1987-1988, 1991-993, 2001*-2005 and 2007-2009. *The 2001 card is an error, his last name misspelled “Pinella” on front and back.

Hall of Fame? Number retired? Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame.

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