Lou Piniella was given the nickname Sweet Lou for many reasons. Everyone that really knows him, I mean really knows him has his own reason for wanting to call him or acknowledge him as Sweet Lou.
His teammates who played with Lou during the Yankee era of the ’70s started to call him Sweet Lou because he was a terrific hitter who was also extremely clutch. Some because he was such a leader in the clubhouse. Some because he was such a caring friend.
To me, it was extremely personal and important.
During the 1974 season, the telephone rang in my home. My mother answered the phone and after about a minute I heard my mother screaming and then falling to the floor. Someone on the other end of the phone had just told her that her brother (my uncle) had been shot several times but was still alive.
My uncle Keno had owned a bar in Chicago. two guys tried to rob him. When he would not give up the money they shot him. Fortunately, he survived but was in bad shape.
The following road trip was to Kansas City and Chicago. When Mr. Steinbrenner found out about my uncle he said that I should go with the team so that I could visit my uncle in Chicago.
My mom was so happy that I was going to see Uncle Keno that she cried.
On the plane to Kansas City, I remember Bobby Murcer and Sandy Alomar asking me questions about my uncle’s condition. I remember Lou sitting by the window with a very glazed look on his face but never saying anything.
While in Kansas City I mentally got lost from the anxiety of thinking about my uncle because that Yankee team was exciting and they were making a legitimate run at the pennant. They also won a couple of very exciting games there and when you were the Yanks batboy at that time the players treated me like I was part of the team. They made me feel like I was their little brother.
When we got on the plane to Chicago I started to feel sick to my stomach. I remember not eating anything on the plane and staying very quiet. At one time Lou walked past me on his way to the bathroom looked at me and gave me a little smile but didn’t say anything.
When we got to Chicago the traveling secretary Bill Kane gave me an envelope with some extra meal money in it. He said that Mr. Steinbrenner said to use it for cab fare to the hospital to see my uncle and to get to the ballpark.
The next morning I started my journey to see my uncle at the hospital. When I got to the lobby I felt like I was getting an anxiety attack. I started to hyperventilate and couldn’t breathe. I saw a sofa and I quickly sat on it for probably half an hour. Some of the players started to come down to go eat before heading to the ballpark. I tried hard not to show them that I was having a tough time with it. All of a sudden Lou was coming out of the elevator and I always considered him a man’s man. Someone that was very strong physically and mentally. I didn’t want him to know that I was weak. As he was walking past me he nodded and kept walking. I said hi. All of a sudden he stopped came back to me and asked when I was going to see my uncle. When I tried to answer him my lips started to tremble and my eyes welled up. At that moment Lou said let’s go. He got us a cab and went to the hospital with me. When we got to the hospital he asked the receptionist for my uncle’s room put his arm around me and led me to his room. When I walked into the room my uncle cried when he saw me. I held his hand and cried too. At that moment Lou told my uncle that I was a great person and he should be proud of me. Lou said some wonderful things to my uncle. Things about life that my uncle needed to hear. It was at that moment that I realized what a great leader he was and why guys on the team like Murcer and Thurman Munson were so fond of the man known as Sweet Lou. To see how Lou was so important in that Yankee clubhouse and every clubhouse that he was connected with does not surprise me as to why he would become such a great manager years later. It does not surprise me that his Seattle Mariners team would have the most wins in a season ever. It also doesn’t surprise me that his 1990 Cincinnati Reds team would become world champions by beating a very powerful Oakland As team in that series.
Lou Piniella loved his teammates and always tried to support them in every way possible. His friendship with Catfish Hunter, Thurman Munson, and Bobby Murcer was a thing of beauty. I learned a lot from Lou and the importance of being a good friend and a true person.
When Thurman Munson died I learned that it was ok to cry because it was the first time that I saw Lou and the rest of my heroes cry.
Lou Piniella was a world champion as a player, he was a world champion as a manager and he is a world champion as a man.
The fact that Lou was not selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame tells me that certain voters did not properly do their job in the voting process. Piniella is and always has been a true credit to the game of baseball and at this time the game sure could have used a true inspiration, a true leader, and a true winner in life who deserves the honor of being called a Hall of Famer!
