Loyalty, Leadership, and Lou

Here is an interesting piece from sportswriter Rick Morrissey about Cubs Manager Lou Piniella. Morrissey's take is that Lou is too loyal to certain players and questions loyalty as a trait for good sports coaches. Here are some quotes:

"Piniella makes decisions the way glaciers make trips to the 7-Eleven. Either he doesn't like change or he has a fatal habit of being loyal to players who don't deserve his loyalty."

"The best managers aren't afraid to make decisions. It's true that a baseball season is long and that most players have ups and downs. But a perceptive manager sees when something isn't working."

"The only thing Piniella has adjusted for this season is injuries. In other words, necessity made him change, not creativity or acumen or even an old-fashioned hunch."

The whole article is here.