Defiant Piniella: 'Take your shots'

Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Thursday that it's OK to put it all on him.

Piniella addressed several aspects of managing Thursday. It's been a disappointing and tumultuous season on the North Side. Through it all, Piniella's "fire" and "desire" have been questioned.

"I've addressed everything that needs to be addressed here," he said. "I don't know what else I could do. Look invariably, when things don't go right, it's always the manager's fault. You want to blame me? Take your shots. It doesn't bother me one bit. OK?

"I'm the same manager I was this year as I was last year as I was the year before. The same manager. No different. When you don't win, somebody's got to stand up and be the scapegoat. If you all want to say it's the manager, say it's the manager. It's fine with me."

In a spirited discussion with the media, Piniella touched on several issues:

• He said the chemistry on this year's team "hasn't been one of our better mixes."

• He tends to "look the other way more" today than he did when he was a younger manager

Things got going when Piniella was asked how he keeps a club focused during tough times.

"I've been fortunate over the years that I've managed," he said. "We've kept distractions far and few between, and also, we've always had relatively good chemistry in the clubhouse. I think probably the best way is just a lot of individual talks more than anything else."

A follow-up question on "chemistry" centered on what it's like on this Cubs team.

"Winning has a lot to do with chemistry," Piniella said. "It makes the team come together a lot quicker. Remember, I told you all this spring, we had a big turnover. Sometimes it takes awhile. It doesn't necessarily just fall in your lap. But this hasn't been one of my better chemistry teams. But look, is that the reason we're winning or losing baseball games? No, I don't think so. You can go beyond that."

As far as how he has changed as a manager, Piniella said much of it has to do with his age. He turns 66 today.

"I think I'm a lot more patient," he said. "I look the other way more. I'm a fairly easy guy to play for, to be honest with you. All I expect is the players to go out there and give 100 percent and do the best they can. Hustle. I respect players. I want to do them do well.

"The same way you learn to become a good player, you learn to become a better manager. And you keep adjusting to the times. If you don't adjust to the times, things pass you by."

That said, Piniella said he still cares deeply about wins and losses and those are the things he'll be judged on as a manager.

"All I can do is what I can do," he said. "I do the best I can every day, and I care. I can't do any more or any less. I'm very fair. I play the people I feel should be playing. There are no doghouses. Everybody gets an opportunity. But I let the players play. It's their game. It's not my game.

"I don't take it personally, but I do care about wins and losses. That's what I'm hired for. I get hired to win baseball games. That's my batting average. That's my ERA."