Lou Piniella is back on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, and this time the Hall of Fame question is hanging there again.
The longtime manager is one of eight candidates up for consideration, with a 16-member panel of Hall of Fame players, Major League executives, media members and historians set to review the group. A candidate needs at least 12 votes, or 75%, to get in.
The results for the Class of 2027 will be announced Sunday, Dec. 6.
Piniella is in a crowded field. The other names on the ballot are Sandy Alderson, Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon, Brian Sabean, Ted Turner and Bill White.
His case starts with the numbers. Across 23 seasons and five teams, Piniella went 1,835-1,713 and ranks 17th all-time in wins.
Of the 16 managers ahead of him, 12 are already in the Hall of Fame. Baker and Bochy are among that group of names ahead of him on the list.
He managed the Yankees from 1986-88, the Reds from 1990-92, the Mariners from 1993-2002, the Devil Rays from 2003-05 and the Cubs from 2007-10. Along the way, his clubs reached the postseason seven times, and he had eight seasons with 90 or more wins while doing it with four different teams.
The brightest spot came in Cincinnati. In his first season with the Reds in 1990, Piniella guided them wire-to-wire through the NL West and then to a World Series title, a four-game sweep of the heavily favored Athletics.
That Reds team had spent the late 1980s coming up short. They finished second four straight years from 1985-88, then slipped to fifth in 1989 during the scandal that led to Pete Rose’s banishment from baseball for gambling.
When Piniella arrived at spring training in 1990, he saw a roster he believed could do something special if the pitching stayed intact.
“My message to them was, you guys are at the right age with the right experience and the talent to win everything. So go out and play ball, have fun and good things will happen to us," Piniella said in April.
"Well, we started off 9-0 and we went wire-to-wire. The one good thing was, we had built a big lead, so I was able to rest the team a lot during the summer and we got into the playoffs.”
That Cincinnati club was built around Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo and the “Nasty Boys” bullpen trio of Norm Charlton, Randy Myers and Rob Dibble. Oakland, meanwhile, came into the World Series as the clear favorite, powered by Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Dave Stewart and future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.
“Heavily favored, but I thought we would play very well," Piniella said. "I didn’t know we’d sweep them, but I thought we’d be very competitive because Oakland was a fastball pitching team and our kids hit fastballs well. At the same time, Oakland had those big sluggers where you could throw velocity at them.”
Piniella left Cincinnati after he could not work out a new contract with then-owner Marge Schott, then landed in Seattle and became the Mariners’ all-time winningest manager. The Mariners made their first postseason trip in 1995 and tied the MLB record with 116 wins in 2001.
His place in team history is already secure. The Reds inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2026, and the Mariners did the same in 2014.
Before all that managing success, Piniella put together an 18-year playing career with the Orioles, Cleveland, the Royals and the Yankees. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1969 with Kansas City, made the All-Star team in 1972 and won two World Series with New York in 1977 and 1978. In 1,747 career games, he hit .291.
Piniella’s reputation also came from his fire. He never hid it as a player or manager, and his 64 career ejections are tied for 14th all-time with Clint Hurdle and Bill Rigney. Late in the 1990 season, he famously threw first base twice after being ejected from a game.
“Usually, I’m an easygoing guy but on the field, I’m very competitive," Piniella said. "I know when I first started managing, [Yankees owner] Mr.
[George] Steinbrenner told me, ‘Look, when you get mad at the umpire, put on a little show. The people enjoy it.
I get the back page of The Daily News and New York Post. I’ll pay your fines.’
So I took that to heart.”
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