Sweet Lou says 'Goodbye'

Chicago - The man who had become known as 'Sweet Lou' announced before Sunday's game that it would be his last game as a manager. After 23 years as a major league manager Lou Piniella is walking away.

It had been known that this season was going to be the last for Lou Piniella. He had cited family obligations as the reason for his retirement announcement at the beginning of the season, but with 39 games left Piniella who had become known as 'Sweet Lou' for his verbal tirades towards umpires and players announced that Sunday would be his last game. Again pointing towards his family and an ailing mother Piniella said that he needed to devote time to his family. Piniella has always put everyone elses needs before his and once again he has done so, this time for his mother citing, "My mom needs me home and that's where I'm going." Piniella had a career that spanned 48 years as both a player and a manager. He had taken a leave of absence earlier in August to be with his mother, but as her health has deteriorated he felt it wasn't fair to the club, players, or his family for him to be jumping back and forth. Sunday's game seemed to be a fitting end for Piniella as he was up against Bobby Cox, who also announced that he would be retiring after this season. As Sunday's game started Piniella walked his lineup card out to home-plate where he was met by Cox. The two men shared a handshake and then an embrace then they posed for pictures with the umpires. As Piniella went back to his dugout the cheers for him continued to grow as he tipped his hat to the fans. While the game didn't go the way that Piniella or the Cubs would have wanted it to, when it was over Piniella tipped his hat to the Braves' dugout and towards Cox. The Braves pounded the Cubs 16-5 to end what has been a disappointing season for the Chicago organization. Reliever Sean Marshall summed it up saying, "I wish we would've played better for him. You hate to see stuff like that. You hate to see a grown man kind of tear up like that, it just shows his heart for winning and his drive for baseball and his family." Piniella's overall record as a manager is 1,835-1,713, trailing only Tony La Russa, Cox and Joe Torre among active managers. As the skipper for the Cubs he was 316-293. He won back-to-back central titles in 2007 and 2008, but the last two seasons saw the Cubs slip backwards. He spent 18 years in the majors as a player before becoming a manager. He was also able to go to the World Series five times and winning it all three. The Cubs meanwhile named Mike Quade to serve as manager for the remaining 39 games. Quade's first game will be on Monday against Washington on the road.