CHICAGO -- It was back in Arizona during spring training that Chicago Cubs president Crane Kenney said management would have an "interesting conversation" with Lou Piniella at the end of the season if he felt good enough to continue managing in 2011.
"Last time I checked, I'm not on life support," Piniella said with a laugh.
But that interesting conversation never will happen.
Piniella officially announced Tuesday he has decided to calls it quits on his managerial career at the end of this season.
The news wasn't as surprising as the timing, with the Cubs playing out the string and 68 games remaining. Piniella made the decision last week, but the news leaked out from his agent early Tuesday afternoon before he could get a chance to inform his players and coaching staff.
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"I've been extremely appreciative of my four years here with the Chicago Cubs," Piniella said. "It has been a wonderful experience, a wonderful city, wonderful fans. . . . But at the end of this year I turn 67 and it's time for me to get on with a new phase of my life."
Piniella said he wanted to spend more time with his family and made the announcement now instead of at the end of the season because he didn't "want to mislead anybody" about his intentions.
"More important, it gives (general manager) Jim Hendry more time to find a new manager for this organization," he said. "And he can do it where he doesn't have to be secret about it or anything else."
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts later confirmed Hendry would remain the general manager "going into next year," and will make the decision on who will succeed Piniella.
Hendry wouldn't give the qualifications he's looking for in a manager. Going by the past he likes someone with experience, and Bob Brenly, Joe Torre and Joe Girardi are three potential candidates who have a World Series championship under their belts.
But Hendry said he wouldn't rule out someone with no managerial experience in the big leagues and named Triple-A Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg as an in-house candidate.
"We want the best manager moving forward," Hendry said. "We'd like it to be somebody who isn't a short-term guy."
Speculation had Sandberg as the odds-on favorite based on Ricketts' fondness for him as a Cubs Hall of Fame player, but the Cubs insisted there is no favorite.
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Piniella's legacy in Chicago likely will be debated for years to come. He won a pair of division titles in his first two seasons, but went 0-6 in the playoffs. He helped the Cubs set attendance records and raised the bar as far as expectations, but watched a veteran team shoot itself in the foot this season, leading to their current mess.
Piniella said he hopes to stay in the game as a consultant. The Steinbrenner family is expected to offer him such a job with the Yankees.
Piniella coined the terms "Cubbie Swagger" and "Cubbie Occurrence," and will be remembered as one of the most colorful characters in team history. Was the Piniella era in Chicago a success?
"Success? We (had winning records) three years in a row," he said. "That hasn't happened in a while. We won two divisions, and this year is not over with yet."
Asked the same question, Ricketts had a different response.
"Our goal is to win the win the World Series," Ricketts said. "Our goal is to put a team on the field that can win the World Series every year."
I can't envision an era without that and still calling it a success, no."
Piniella said his decision has "nothing to do" with the way the season has played out. It's not exactly a good way to end a long career, but Piniella said when it's time, it's time.
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"I've been away from home since 1962," he said. "It's about 50 years. Been a long road, and God has blessed me with good health and the ability to do this job, and I'm appreciative. But sooner or later, you go on to a new phase, and that's exactly what's happening to me."
