Now he puts the Lou in Loser.

What the hell happened to "sweet" Lou Piniella? He's one of the greats. He won a World Series in 1990 with the Reds, and has been back to the post season 5 times since. But in game one of his Cub's NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks he made the same mistake he would have been slamming from the announcers booth last year. Instead of playing each game as it's own game he started thinking about a game that might not even get played.

He had his ace on the mound, Carlos Zambrano. He was pitching a strong game, he was locked in a 1-1 tie, he had just retired 9 of the last 11 he had faced. Then without warning, in the sixth inning, after only 85 pitches, sweet Lou pulls him. The next batter at the plate hits the game winning home run.

Lou would later say in the post game press conference that he wanted Zambrano fresh should he need him again in a "potential" game 4. Someone forgot to tell Lou that on the schedule for the series it says "if necessary" next to games 4 and 5. If you win game 1 that forces the other guys to worry about making game 4 happen. You don't need to worry about that game till it happens. Win the game that you're playing, not the one you may or may not have to play.

Of course if the Cubs had won the game, and then needed to play a game 4 everyone, myself included would have been calling Sweet Lou a managerial genius. Such is life when you take risks. He said he had faith in his bullpen, that they have been there for him all year. But, the post season is different, games are won and lost on momentum swings, and pulling a pitcher who has the other team funked, for no reason sends a message. The Cub's players and the Diamondback's players got that message loud and clear. The Cub's were slumped over on the field, they were defeated. They felt like they had the game, they had their best man on the mound, he had his best stuff. Many D'backs players were quoted after the game saying that they thought it was Zambrano's game. They weren't quite sure why Piniella pulled him, but they sure were happy he did.

The Cubs lost game 2 in Arizona as well, and they sure look like the will be ending yet another fruitless run at the title that has eluded them for 99 years. It turns out Lou might have been saving Zambrano's arm for the 2008 opener.