European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday october 16, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 25 the world series reds Piniella comes up roses in his previous stint in another town he always seemed to be waiting for the phone to ring. Or the other shoe to drop. Or the sky to fall. Whatever the cliche Lou Piniella was a preoccupied manager working for an erratic tyrant. But he got away and in recent Days he became a free Man. Something psychic happened to Lou Piniella. He Learned that not Only could he live through immense Public second guessing but that he could also admit out loud that maybe he Hadnot been perfect after All. In the world at Large this is called growth. In Lou Piniella a world this includes winning the National league Pennant which happened Friday night when Piniella did everything right and his players did just enough right to beat the pirates 2-1 and move on to the world series commencing tuesday in Cincinnati. Of the phone still rings. It rang Early Friday evening while Piniella was talking baseball in his office. A hello Marge. Yeah lets do it. Sure.  Marge Schott the owner is not invisible or inaudible. She occasionally makes suggestions that Border on the bizarre such As the players wearing Caps with Little furry commentary dogs ears on them like those on her pet hound the Ever present Schottie. Piniella Weathers these moments Well. A Marge has been great a Piniella said. A i told her i did no to come Here to manage. I came Here to  it was easier working in Cincinnati than for that dreadful Man in the Bronx. Piniella has been affected by two famous baseball people who did no to know where the lines were. By moving from George Steinbrenner a Yankees this year he missed the owners lifetime banishment for consorting with a Gambler. But he had to replace a manager who was going to prison for income tax evasion that stemmed from compulsive gambling. Piniella even had to reverse his Yankee uniform number because Pete roses no. 14 is in minimum Security Mothballs. To his credit Piniella did not take Down the caricatures of familiar reds celebrating the 1975 world series like the tableau of iwo Jima on the Wall behind his desk. One of those celebrants has a Prince valiant haircut. Piniella goaded the reds into first place and they were never moved out of it for 162 games the first time that has happened since division play began in 1969. Then came the National league shootout. On wednesday night Piniella fiddled with his lineup until he had to let his left handed hitting Reserve Catcher Jeff Reed Bat against a lefty. The pirates turned a big time double play and Piniella began hearing about George Vecsey Lou Piniella and Marge Schott show off their no trophy. It from writers and from Tim Mccarver the former Catcher who Calls a terrific game on the air. Mccarver told or. And mrs. America and the ships at sea that Piniella should have flip flopped his lineup by putting the Pitcher in the seventh spot and protecting the Catcher in the ninth spot. Piniella knows How that Drill works. When he was broadcasting Between managing posts with the Yankees he raised questions about Dallas greens lineup and Green had a fit. On wednesday night Piniella was not amused by the second guessing. But on Friday evening in front of a dozen mostly familiar faces he admitted having second guessed himself for the last 24 hours until a it drove me Doggone  in the Era of the sound bite when managers like politicians normally dare not utter a Complex thought Piniella confessed second thoughts. Yes he said he has Learned that next year the reds will carry three real catchers. And he has also Learned that the National league game with the extra fillip of pitchers batting instead of designated hitters is indeed More challenging. However Piniella strongly defended putting Reed into the game knowing that the pirates were loaded with left handed pitching. Reed was 9 for 25 against lefties with two homers and that was Good enough for Piniella. He also noted that wednesdays moves were dictated by not having a Long Relief Pitcher left at that late inning. However Piniella volunteered perhaps he should have flip flopped his seventh and eighth hitters. A you can to think of everything a Piniella said and this is a much More immense statement than it appears. A a you re Busy giving signals and thinking about the pitchers a Piniella said making Eye Contact with the people in his office. A a that a Why baseball is such a great game. Its All right there. Everybody can see it. Everybody has an  having admitted self doubt room for change in his 24 hours of Retreat Piniella faced another strategical Challenge. Jim Leyland who probably will be voted manager of the year came up with Ted Power a right handed Relief Pitcher to Start this big game instead of Zane Smith the left handed presumed starter. Piniella did not go for the full fake. He started a switch hitter Todd Benzinger to minimize the effect and he started the hot streaking Paul of Neill in right Field but mostly he used his righty hitters knowing Smith would soon be in the game. Everything else flowed from patience. This time he did flip Flop the seventh and ninth spots. Ron Oester batting ninth started the winning rally with a single. Luis Quinones who Pinch hit for the still hot of Neill drove in the tie breaking run with a single. Glenn Braggs who came into the game in a second flip flow hauled Down a menacing drive at the Fence. And Piniella sent in the right Nasty boys at the right time. He managed the Heck out of the biggest game of his career. On tuesday Piniella will face his old bilingual teammate from american legion West Tampa Post 248. Tony la Russa has a reputation for being one Slick manager. Lou Piniella used to come off As a Vassal. He is fast becoming interesting. The new York times Gincy Hopes this Bash gets Nasty by Jim Donaghy a baseball writer Cincinnati the place to be for the world series is in the bullpen. Its Cincinnati a Nasty boys is. Oakland a Bash Brothers in a confrontation involving More strategy than a chess match Between Karpov and Kasparov. The opening move is set for tuesday night at riverfront stadium when Dave Stewart is expected to Start for the a a against Jose Rijo. Since Pittsburgh manager Jim Leyland Isnit involved its also expected the starting pitchers who show up at the pregame news conference will actually Start. But the real fun is who will finish. The a a Are favored to win their second straight world series because of Stewart Bob Welch and Mike Moore. The reds Are Given a Chance because of the Nasty boys a a relievers Rob Dibble Randy Myers and Norm Charlton. In 15% innings against the pirates the Nasty boys gave up one earned run and six hits while striking out 20. Dibble pitched five witless innings striking out 10 to tie a playoff record for a reliever. A it does no to matter if a Guy hits Cross handed right handed or he a a switch hitter a Leyland said. A it does no to matter if you have a midget at the plate. If Rob Dibble is throwing 100 Miles per hour i for openers on an television game 1 a Oakland at Cincinnati 1 . Wednesday 1 07 . On radio. Game 2 a Oakland at Cincinnati 1 . Thursday 1 07 . On radio. Done to care if you re standing on your head. You re going to have a Tough  Cincinnati a formula for Victory is to grab an Early Lead and turn it Over to the Nasty boys in the sixth or seventh inning. The reds were 66-22 when they scored first and 74-6 when holding the Lead after six innings. The a Sas demonstrated against Boston have All sorts of ways to win. One of the Best is to bring in Dennis Eckersley and friends. The Oakland bullpen of Eckersley Rick Honeycutt and Gene Nelson combined to give up five hits and no runs in 6% innings during the Al playoffs. In the playoffs Oakland and Cincinnati relievers combined to give up one earned run and 14 hits in 25 innings striking out 24. A a in be never sat Down and Analysed their bullpen a Myers said. A they have the Best in closers in Eckersley. We have co Stop pers in Dibble and  fittingly Myers and Dibble were selected co maps of the no playoffs after the reds won their first Pennant since 1976 on Friday night in game 6. Myers saved three games to tie a playoff record and Dibble was so Good it went beyond nastiness. A i consider it a bullpen map a Myers said. A we Are a group Down there. We re called the Nasty boys and that show we pitch. A lot has been said about Dibble it he goes out there and gives 100 percent and i try to do the same  a lot has been said about Dibble because he has been saying a lot about himself. He a not particularly Happy As Myers setup Man Ana wants a big raise. A a Rob a a Nice boy a owner Den Mother Marge Schott said. A but sometimes id like to smack  while the Nasty boys live on the Edge Eckersley is More on the fringe of perfection. In the last three seasons he has 126 saves. Not bad for a Pitcher who spent 12 years As a starter and leads All current a  career Complete games. In his last 203% innings Eckersley has walked 18 batters. This season he walked four and struck out 73 in 73% innings. By contrast Yankees Rookie Steve Adkins walked eight in his first Start. Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersley. 126 saves in last 3 years