'Sweet Lou' will be missed

One of the great characters in baseball has stepped away. Lou Piniella -- a gamer, a throwback, a scrapper if there ever was one -- will be missed.

Piniella was a heart-on-the-sleeve kinda guy, never one to muffle his emotions or try to veil his passion, regardless of whether he was playing, coaching or managing. He flung helmets and heaved bases, kicked up dirt and spiked caps all in the name of trying to get the most from himself and his ballclub.

Piniella was a journeyman player, hitting .291 over 21 seasons and helping the New York Yankees to two consecutive World Series titles in 1977-78. He likely will be remembered most for his managerial savvy -- he guided the Cincinnati Reds to an improbable championship in 1990 -- and should garner Hall of Fame consideration for his body of work across nearly 50 years in the major leagues.

As passionate as "Sweet Lou" was, he also knew when to turn it off. During many a postgame interview, he appeared calm, subdued, even apologetic following an in-game outburst. He was one to leave it all on the field, as the saying goes. That's exactly what he did Sunday.

Catching Up ...

• Jimmy Dugan famously professed, "There's no crying in baseball!" But, like many institutions with time-honored traditions, baseball must make room for progress and pioneer crybabies such as Mark McGwire, Jim Joyce and Carlos Zambrano. Oh, how times have changed, Jimmy.


• That Ubaldo Jimenez dude has one of those faces -- he looks like someone famous, but I can't quite put my finger on who. Then again, it doesn't really matter. The kid is doing quite well in establishing his own celebrity. Now he just needs a cool nickname.


• People are starting to get excited about the Rangers and Padres, two teams that started hot but weren't expected to keep it up this deep into the season. We're almost at the All-Star break, and neither club shows any sign of faltering. But, c'mon, it's the Rangers and Padres. We all know how it's going to turn out, don't we?


• Maybe Ken Griffey Jr. made the right call when he decided to retire. But walking away in the middle of the season? Why not stick around -- for the club, for the fans, for the game? Kinda like when his dad stuck around one more year for him.

5 Reasons Why Lincecum Gets His Money

Here is why Giants ace Tim Lincecum should --and likely will -- win his arbitration case (he's asking for $13 million, the Giants offered $8 million):

• He's earned it. Two Cy Young Awards in his first two full seasons. What else needs to be said?
• Makeup money. In relative terms, Lincecum has been grossly underpaid the past two seasons. At $650,000 in 2009 and $405,000 in 2008, the kid has delivered more per dollar, by far, than any player in the major leagues.
• He's worth it. When you think about it (and consider some of the other off-the-charts salaries being tossed around), $13 million would still be a bargain for a guy who, believe it or not, will be looking to improve upon back-to-back Cy Young seasons.
• He's the face of the organization. The Giants have been milking the hell out of this kid in the offseason -- he's part of every promo, his mug is plastered all over the Web site, they're using him to sell tickets. It's not just about what he's giving them on the field every fifth day.
• He's a draw (kinda ties in with the previous point). That quirky delivery; that freakish velocity; that hair; that baby face; those strikeouts and those wins. They all add up to fannies in the seats at AT&T Park.

The fact that Lincecum has to go to arbitration in the first place has most fans and area media a little pissed. The bottom line: If he loses, nobody wins ... including the Giants.

More Stealing Money

New Mets outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. and Giants pitcher Barry Zito are the 21st Century poster boys for big deals gone bad. Something's not right about a fourth outfielder and a No. 4 starter making $11 million a year and $18 million a year, respectively.

Granted, Zito last season made a little headway -- just a little -- toward returning to his Cy Young-winning form. And, of course, that form he displayed at such a relatively young age -- the promise of greatness -- is why the Giants gave him the big contract in the first place. He's going to have to win two or three more Cys (probably not going to happen) to even begin earning that hefty paycheck.

Matthews' salary jump, on the other hand, is harder to swallow. The guy had one decent season -- .313, 19 HRs, 79 RBIs with Texas in 2006 -- and suddenly the Angels were treating him like Torii Hunter (whom the Angels gave yet another huge contract to replace him). Those numbers were all career highs for Matthews -- no 20-homer season, no 100-RBI season. Gary Sr. was a far better player than his son, and he never sniffed the upper echelon of player salaries in his day.

Zito and Matthews ought to think about donating some of that green to the Haiti relief fund -- or, at the very least, to the Washington Nationals.

McGwire Chooses Damage Control

OK, so Mark McGwire fessed up. Good for him. He did the right thing, and he managed to win over some bleeding hearts in the process.

But Monday's events did more for the man than they did for the game. Big Mac must have been losing sleep thinking about that first day of spring training -- he was headed straight into an artillery zone and he would be the lone, sitting target.

Would we have heard from McGwire had he not been hired as the Cardinals hitting coach? I think not.

So damage control was in order. Obviously, it was a pivotal moment in his life and career. And perhaps it will serve as a turning point for Major League Baseball. That remains to be seen. But, no question, it was a calculated move that had to be made to keep the circus from setting up in Jupiter, Fla., next month.

One thing about McGwire's admission did bother me. He insisted he began taking steroids to recover faster from injuries, and they were never intended to improve his performance. And yet ... he continued to use them -- even while he was healthy -- for several years thereafter.

Does he expect people to believe -- especially after Monday -- that was all him in '98? Part of him is still in denial, no doubt, and that's understandable.

It's OK, big guy -- baby steps.

10 Questions For 'Big Mac'

So many questions swirling around inside the heads of baseball fans and media in anticipation of Mark McGwire's impending turn at the mic, which will be his first public appearance since the Debacle on Capitol Hill.

Me, I'm kinda neutral on the whole steroids issue (whatever that means). But I have come up with my own set of questions that I'm guessing probably won't get asked and definitely wouldn't elicit the most enthusiastic responses from "Big Mac."

Here's what I came up with:

• What was going through your mind when you walked into that bathroom stall with Jose Canseco and he told you to drop trow?


• Since you don't really want to talk about the past, here's a scenario for your new position as the Cardinals hitting coach: A young prospect approaches you during spring training and asks you what's the best way to add power to his swing. What the heck do you tell him?


• If you were a steroid, what kind of steroid would you be?


• Now that baseball has cracked down on steroid use, do you think bunting will make a comeback?


• How many zits a week, on average, did your wife (or girlfriend or personal trainer) pop on your back during the 1990s?


• What's the most weight you've bench-pressed?


• OK, now what's the most you've bench-pressed while not on steroids?


• Who would win in a fight between you and Barry Bonds ... when both of you are at the peak of 'roid rage?


• Along with your son and Tony La Russa, who else has been named a beneficiary in your will?


• If Lee Harvey Oswald had been on steroids, is it conceivable that he was the lone shooter?

Dawson Deserved Better

Sure, I'm elated to see Andre Dawson, one of my all-time favorite players, get the Hall of Fame nod. But it's a shame it took this long.

In his first 10-12 seasons, "The Hawk" was arguably the best all-around player in the game. He was ...

• Mike Schmidt with a better average
• Ozzie Smith with more power
• Willie Stargell, only faster
• Tony Gwynn with more range and a stronger arm
• Reggie Jackson without the ego

And what do those players from Dawson's era all have in common? Each was enshrined at Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility.

Dawson essentially was penalized, through no fault of his own, for playing in the seclusion of Montreal during the early part of his career, and then playing through pain in both his knees in the later years.

Now that he's getting what is long overdue, it's only fitting that he won't have to share the spotlight. Congrats to Awesome Dawson.