\u00c2\u00a0La noticia de Lou Piniella adelantando su retiro como manager luego del juego de este domingo 22 de agosto de 2010, me conect\u00c3\u00b3 con un gradiente de sonidos en la sala de la casa de mis padres a comienzos de octubre de 1971. Las notas de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uncle Albert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d recibieron el avance de la campanilla del tel\u00c3\u00a9fono. Pap\u00c3\u00a1 me inform\u00c3\u00b3 con brillo en los ojos que probablemente asistir\u00c3\u00adamos al juego sabatino en el estadio Universitario de Caracas. Para un ni\u00c3\u00b1o que viv\u00c3\u00ada en Cumanacoa. Sucre, aquello parec\u00c3\u00ada un cuento de hadas. De inmediato corr\u00c3\u00ad a sacar la colecci\u00c3\u00b3n de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sport Gr\u00c3\u00a1fico\u00e2\u20ac\u009d que guardaban mis hermanos debajo de sus camas. Entre los primeros ejemplares encontr\u00c3\u00a9 el que ten\u00c3\u00ada un afiche de Lou Piniella con los Royals de Kansas City. All\u00c3\u00ad me enter\u00c3\u00a9 que Piniella debut\u00c3\u00b3 en Grandes Ligas con los Orioles de Baltimore en 1964, que luego jug\u00c3\u00b3 con los Indios de Cleveland en 1968 y fue Novato del A\u00c3\u00b1o en 1969 con Kansas City. Pero lo que m\u00c3\u00a1s me llamaba la atenci\u00c3\u00b3n era que Piniella hab\u00c3\u00ada venido a jugar aquella temporada 1971-72 con los Tiburones de La Guaira como resultado de las negociaciones sorprendentes que acostumbraba Pedro Padr\u00c3\u00b3n Panza. En ese mismo orden de ideas Padr\u00c3\u00b3n Panza hab\u00c3\u00ada logrado los servicios de Charlie Lau, aquel famoso gur\u00c3\u00ba del bateo que tuvo entre sus discipulos a George Brett, para que fungiera como manager de los escualos. Mis hermanos me nombraron todos los jugadores del Magallanes y de La Guaira. Pero qued\u00c3\u00a9 intrigado con Piniella por el premio y por lo que hab\u00c3\u00ada hecho en Grandes Ligas en 1970 y 1971. Por eso cuando entr\u00c3\u00a9 al Universitario por la tribuna central, me qued\u00c3\u00a9 mirando a los jugadores del infield magallanero y cuando sali\u00c3\u00b3 La Guaira no pude quitar la mirada de los jardines. El juego fue un duelo de pitcheo entre Aurelio Monteagudo (La Guaira) y Jorge Lauzerique (Magallanes). Recuerdo que en un momento del juego, Piniella corri\u00c3\u00b3 hasta lo m\u00c3\u00a1s profundo del left field y tom\u00c3\u00b3 la pelota de espaldas y pegado de los tubos para quitarle por lo menos un doble a Jim Holt. Lament\u00c3\u00a9 mucho ese out, pero a la vez tuve que reconocer la elegancia y la solvencia defensiva del \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Asturiano de Tampa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Me acuerdo que en el cierre del cuarto inning Piniella le bate\u00c3\u00b3 a Lauzerique uno de los pocos imparables que permiti\u00c3\u00b3 aquella tarde-noche. La Guaira marc\u00c3\u00b3 la \u00c3\u00banica rayita del juego. Sal\u00c3\u00ad muy triste del estadio porque me toc\u00c3\u00b3 ver perder a mi equipo la primera vez que fui al estadio. Pero el duelo de pitcheo, las jugadas de D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco, Jes\u00c3\u00bas Aristimu\u00c3\u00b1o y Gustavo Gil m\u00c3\u00a1s aquella atrapada de Piniella contra la cerca del left field me consolaron mucho porque mi t\u00c3\u00ado decidi\u00c3\u00b3 que nos fueramos antes del noveno inning para evitar embotellamientos en el tr\u00c3\u00a1nsito automotor. Piniella particip\u00c3\u00b3 en 27 juegos con La Guaira, 103 turnos al bate, 13 carreras anotadas, 34 imparables, 7 dobles, 1 triple, 1 jonr\u00c3\u00b3n, 11 carreras empujadas, 1 base robada, .330 promedio ofensivo. Como todo lo que hizo en el b\u00c3\u00a9isbol, Piniella aleg\u00c3\u00b3 una raz\u00c3\u00b3n de mucho peso para justificar su retiro, su mam\u00c3\u00a1 necesita que \u00c3\u00a9l regrese a casa. La mezcla de la m\u00c3\u00basica de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uncle Albert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d subi\u00c3\u00b3 a trav\u00c3\u00a9s de la campanita que mostraba otra vez como el batazo de Jim Holt aterrizaba en la malla del guante de Piniella.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n
English translation<\/p>\n
The news of Lou Piniella calling his retirement as a baseball manager after the game of this Sunday, August 22nd<\/sup>, 2010, connected me with a gradient of sounds coming from my parents home\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s living room at the beginning of October, 1971. The notes of Paul McCartney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uncle Albert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were chased by the telephone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bell. Dad told me, with glow in his eyes, that we would probably be going to the Saturday ballgame at the Universitario Stadium in Caracas. For a kid living in Cumanacoa, Sucre; that seemed like a fairy tale. Immediately I ran to the bedroom and took out my brothers \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sport Gr\u00c3\u00a1fico\u00e2\u20ac\u009d magazines from below their beds. Among the first issues I found one that had a Lou Piniella\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s poster with the jersey of the Kansas City Royals. There I knew that Piniella made his debut in MLB with the Baltimore Orioles in the 1964 season. That afterwards he played for the Cleveland Indians in 1968 and that he won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1969 while playing for Kansas City. But what most impressed me was that Piniella was playing in the 1971-72 season of the Venezuelan Winter League. Pedo Padr\u00c3\u00b3n Panza, the La Guaira Sharks general manger, always made these kind of suprising dealings to have a very competitive team. In that same order of ideas, Padr\u00c3\u00b3n Panza had signed Charlie Lau, yes the batting guru who had George Brett among his disciples, as the Sharks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 manager. My brothers gave me all the info about the Magallanes Navigators and La Guaira Sharks players. I kept intrigued about Piniella because of the Award and what he had done in MLB in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. For that reason when I arrived to the ballpark through the central stand I kept looking at the Magallanes infielders and when La Guaira took the field I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t avoid looking to the outfield. The game was a pitching duel between Aurelio Monteagudo (La Guaira) and Jorge Lauzerique (Magallanes). I remember that in a moment of the game, Jim Holt hit a tremendous line drive and Piniella ran to the deep left field to make a great catch against the wall, with his back to home plate. I regretted a lot that catch, but at the same time I had to recognize the elegance and defensive skills of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153El Asturiano de Tampa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I also recall that in the bottom of the fourth frame, Piniella batted Lauzerique one of the few hits the pitcher allowed that evening. La Guaira scored the only run of the game. I abandoned the stadium very sad because the first time I had gone to the ballpark my favorite team lost the game. But the defensive plays by D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco, Jes\u00c3\u00bas Aristimu\u00c3\u00b1o and Gustavo Gil, besides that catch of Piniella against the left field wall, made me smile a little since my uncle decided we had to leave before the ninth inning to avoid the traffic jams in the highway. Piniella played in 27 games with La Guaira, 103 at-bats, 13 runs, 34 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 11 RBI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, 1 stolen base, .330 batting average. As everything he did in baseball, Piniella told he had an important reason to justify his retirement, his ailing mother needs him at home. The changes of rhythm of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uncle Albert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d music raised again through the bell that showed how Jim Holt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line drive landed at Piniella\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glove.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n Alfonso is a writer whose work has been featured in Venezuela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daily newspaper, El Nacional and in the magazine Gente en Ambiente, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collaborated on several articles for newspapers, including the daily paper Tal Cual. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also written three books and biographies for SABR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s BioProject.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" La noticia de Lou Piniella adelantando su retiro como manager luego del juego de este domingo 22 de agosto de 2010, me conect\u00c3\u00b3 con un gradiente de sonidos en la sala de la casa de mis padres a comienzos de octubre de 1971. Las notas de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uncle Albert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d recibieron el avance de la campanilla del tel\u00c3\u00a9fono.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t