I love when Lou Piniella says stuff, preferably into microphones. When Lou came out in support of Mark McGwire a month ago, I thought he was full of crap. This week, he confirmed it. In case you missed it, Lou suggested that Cubs fans will forgive McGwire for taking steroids. Lou hasn’t been more wrong since he batted Kosuke Fukudome second and failed to get Ted Lilly a start in the 2008 playoffs.

From the article:

“I think Cub fans will treat him fine,” Piniella said. “We have a great rivalry. He’ll be accepted well. I think they feel he confessed and it’s over with.”

Cubs fans will treat McGwire fine? The same Cubs fans who booed Sammy Sosa while he was busy hitting 545 home runs FOR their team? The same Cubs fans who mercilessly booed now-Twin Jacque Jones while he was busy having the second-best offensive season of his career? The same Cubs fans who booed Milton Bradley when all he did was go on tandem bicycle rides with Paul Sullivan and blow kisses at the bleacher fans?

Rick Ankiel was tortured mercilessly at Wrigley Field after it came out that he had used HGH, and he was absolute crap against the Cubs, and Ankiel sucks. He hit only .198/.278/.370 against the Northsiders with 3 home runs in 81 at-bats. Ankiel was tormented so badly at Wrigley Field, he actually traveled back in time to the 2000 playoffs.

How do you think Cubs fans will respond to a steroid user with a career .272/.453/.832 line against them? A guy whose every highlight reel reminds us that Steve Trachsel was a Cub? TWICE.





If I have any faith left in Cubs fans, they’ll react EXCELLENTLY! Cubs fans have been over-booing players for years. It’s finally time to shine at the one thing at which we excel. This is like when that little bitch from Jurassic Park spent nearly the entire movie being annoying, but then it was all forgotten because she knew how to hack the park’s files and lock the doors before the raptors got in and ripped off Dr. Grant’s face. We have ONE skill, and Lou thinks we’re not going to use it to convince a raptor to rip off Mark McGwire’s face? COME ON.

Here is my fear, though. We can’t just boo. McGwire deserves more. Wrigley Field deserves more. WE deserve more. The “HGH!” chant started by Huey, Slaky, Fork, and Apex at Ankiel’s return to Wrigley Field was well-played, but we need more for McGwire. We need to think bigger. Think pimplier. Think McGwire’s-big-fat-kid-er. We can’t be reduced to chants of “Mark McLiar!” or “Big Macne!” We can do better. We WILL do better. We have until May 28th TO do better.

Signs, chants, limericks, anything. What do you have?