Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon is right up there with Bruce Bochy as the best in the game. (That’s why the Cubs risked “tampering” infractions to go get him, right? I kid, I kid) FOX Sports Analyst Frank Thomas, no stranger to the Chicago baseball community, said before the season started that the addition of Maddon was worth another 12-20 wins to the Cubs.
How he’s turned around the club so quickly and so dramatically this season is a truly amazing feat. The Cubs are 65-48 this season, 17 over .500, while last year’s club was just 73-89.
The Cubs have won 13 of their last 14, 7 in a row and are now 4.5 ahead of the San Francisco Giants for an NL Wild Card spot.
The turnaround is due to much more than Joe Maddon of course. This team is just too young and naive to realize how they good they are, and how they’re not supposed to be this good already. That’s a compliment. This bunch isn’t self-aware enough to realize their limitations, and the fact that they should even have those limitations.
It’s made for a really fun to watch season; and a refreshing change following the last two wasteland seasons of Chicago baseball. Those who cover the team everyday describe an extremely fun, very loose atmosphere which reflects the spirit of their manager. Joe Maddon has instilled a fun-loving zeitgeist that’s reflected in the team’s play on the field, and in this quote:
“If you’re not a little bit crazy, you’re never gonna take the necessary risks to be great. Whether it’s some guy in the clubhouse doing something nuts, or whether it’s bringing a python in there, penguins in there, bringing a salsa band or a DJ, something that loosens the moment up.” — Joe Maddon
The quote comes from an SC Featured segment in Sunday’s editions of SportsCenter. Here’s a sneak preview video of the segment:
Lots of pundits have kicked around the idea of Joe Maddon reuniting with David Price for 2016. The Cubs would definitely be the favorites in 2016 if they had Price in tow.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network.Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch his Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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