Piniella takes early retirement to be with ill mother

Published November 20, 2014

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella will take early retirement, telling the team he would step down after Sunday's game to spend more time with his ailing mother.

Piniella had told the Cubs last month that he was retiring at the end of the season but with his mother's health deteriorating decided Sunday's game against the Atlanta Braves would be his last.

Third-base coach Mike Quade will take over as interim manager.

"I didn't think my career would end this way," Piniella said on MLB.com, Major League Baseball's official website. "My mom needs me home. She hasn't gotten better since I've been here. In fact, she's had a couple complications."

Voted manager of the year three time, Piniella exits as the 14th-winningest manager in the major league.

The 66-year-old entered Sunday's game with 1,835 wins in 22 big league seasons with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Cubs.

He won three World Series, two as a player and one as manager of the Reds in 1990.

(Writing by Steve Keating in Montreal; Editing by Dave Thompson)

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