Yankees and the Hall of Fame: Lou Piniella
- James Vlietstra
- Jun 8
- 1 min read
by James Vlietstra
***
Over the next many months, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees.
Together, we can discuss if we believe that they are deserving of being included in the Hall Of Fame or not. I hope you read along and give me your opinions.
Note - Some people currently in the Hall Of Fame are not specifically in for their merits as a player alone. For instance, Joe Torre didn't get in until after his success as a manager. Phil Rizzuto made it after a career as an announcer. Overall, their careers were definitely deserving. Similarly, Bill Mazeroski was generally considered a light hitting middle infielder, however, one iconic moment got him enshrined. I will be including some of these type players too for us to discuss.
Today we are going to be looking at...
Lou Piniella...
During his playing career, he won the Rookie Of The Year Award, was an All Star, and two time World Series champ.
11 of his 18 years were with the Yankees.
He received two HOF votes in 1990.
However his career didn't end when he stopped playing.
He managed five different teams, including the Yankees, for a total of 23 years.
He was a three time Manager Of The Year.
He won 1,835 games and a World Series as a manager.
His wins are the 17th most ever.
Twice he came up one vote shy of the twelve needed to be enshrined by the Veterans Committee.
Who didn't love Lou back in his days as a Yankee? One of my favorites from those 70's teams. Excellent player, played to win every second of his career, but not a hall of famer. He'd be the first to agree with that, IMO. Manager wise, he was also a very good manager, won in Cinci and dominated in Seattle for a while, but still falls short in that category. Its the hall of fame, not the hall of very good.
Piniella might have been a better player than Aaron Boone.
he might NOT have been a better manager,
Not on his very nice player stats, but yes on his total career.
as manager, Lou guided the Reds to a championship and, that season, his team won 8 of 10 post-season games.
in his 23 years of managing, his teams made 6 other post-season appearances
Another guy whose different parts of his career as a whole make him worthy of being a HOF.