After announcing that he would retire earlier this summer at the end of the 2009 season, Lou Piniella’s stint as Cubs’ manager came to abrupt halt on Sunday as he managed his last game.

Pinella announced shortly before the Cubs’ 16-5 loss to the Braves, that Sunday was going to be his final game so he could head to Florida to spend time with his gravely ill mother.

The Cubs dropped to 51-74 following the game and sit 21.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.  With little left to play for leaving early made sense.

The nearly 50-year veteran of baseball put on his uniform for the last time.  He finished with a record of 1,835-1,713 as a manager, trailing only Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre in victories among active managers.

In 18 years in the majors as a player — he had a .291 career batting average — and another 23 as a manager, Piniella made five trips to the World Series with three championship rings, including one as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds (only ring as a manager).

Pinella will be missed. His character and personality was truly unique and will not be replaced.

Most of my favorite memories of him were from his time in Cincinnati, including his fight with relief pitcher Rob Dibble in 1992 and his tossing of the bases down the right field foul line.

The normally tough and hard Pinella was very emotional during his post-game press conference:

LINKS
--‘Sweet’ Lou Piniella? Really? (Chicago Tribune)
--Piniella belongs in Hall of Fame (Cincinnati Enquirer)

MLB chicago cubs, cincinnati reds, lou pinella, pinella retires