Post-game question gets Piniella steamed

Watching Cubs manager Lou Piniella smack a water cooler in the dugout as he watched his team surrender a 2-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday at Wrigley Field, one had the feeling that the ensuing postgame press conference might rank right up there with his infamous one in April 2007, one that featured such favorites as:

"What the hell do you think isn't working? You saw the damn game."

And …

"Then I bring in a reliever who's throwing 30-, 40-foot curveballs to boot."

After Thursday's 4-3 loss to Milwaukee, Piniella plopped down in the interview room, tersely answered the first four questions he faced, and then was asked if he had thought about putting Reed Johnson in left field as a defensive replacement for Alfonso Soriano.

That did the trick.

"You damn right I thought about it. You think I'm stupid or something?"

Though the interview was done, Piniella wasn't.

As he left the room, Piniella continued muttering about the question, this time using a little stronger language.