Casey Stengel and Yogi Berra proved that you can have one wheel in the sand and still be thought a genius baseball man. This I do not understand. Mostly because baseball is always called “the thinking man’s game.” I don’t see it. At least not in the Cubs dugout. If they’re thinking — and I’m not saying they are — it must be about nail polish or something, cuz it sure as hell isn’t baseball.

I give you exhibit A; Lou Piniella. Now, I love Lou. I mean the guy is right out of central casting and, up until now, I thought he was exactly what we needed. But when I read stuff like I did yesterday, it makes me wonder if Lou wouldn’t be better of with a few jolts of electric sunshine to the temples. Or, perhaps, some other more vital area of his anatomy.

Take the Milton Bradley thing for instance. Lou’s assessment is that the best thing he can do to get the Monopoly guy’s crap .230+ average to a respectable level is to relax. ReLAX?! If he was any more relaxed he’d be on a beach somewhere getting a tan. Instead, how about friggin’ CONCENTRATING?! Ever thought of that? This is a guy who drops routine flies, and turns out number 2 into a souvenir. He doesn’t need to relax, he needs 3 or 4 guys pulling on his shoulders until his head pops out of his ass.

Honestly, I think Lou needs to go off his medication for a while. Is it me, or is he turning into the Dahli Lama? I remember when Lou used to get fired up; put the fear of God in people. Now, when you screw up and you gotta go to the principal’s office, you might as well be having a session with Doogie Howser. In this case, Bradley got a warm and fuzzy personal tutoring session from Lou. Same difference. Last year the Monopoly guy hits .321 for the Rangers. This year he’s hitting about as good as my mother. (No offense, Mom, but you never could hit a curve ball.)

And what does Lou say? “Hitting a baseball is ability, and he’s got ability.” Brilliant, huh? No wonder they paid him so much money to manage us into a World Series. “It’s good eyesight, and he knows the strike zone well.” He does? Stevie friggin’ Wonder knows the strike zone that well. “It’s also good hitting mechanics, and you have to get yourself in good position to swing the bat…” What the hell does that mean? Like, he should stand in the batters box? That’s usually a good place to be to swing the bat. C’mon, Lou! Is this why you’re so revered as a baseball guru? And then there’s the “…adding the relaxation mode to it more than anything else. No tension.” I got news for you pallie, Milton Bradley makes more in one plate appearance than I do in one year. About $25,ooo. So does Soriano. I think it’s time you bulldozed the day care center and brought back a little bit of the fury that made you famous. If we’d wanted milk toast as our manager we’d have hired Joe Torre.

Joe