We always wondered what it would take to lure Joe Maddon away from his cushy gig as the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays and we found out this week as he was introduced as the 54th skipper of the Chicago Cubs. Maddon will be the third different manager that the Cubs have employed in the last three seasons. But unlike Dale Sveum and Rick Renteria before him, Maddon appears here to stay in the Windy City. Recently there was a shakeup in the Rays front office when general manager Andrew Freidman left to become the president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shortly thereafter Maddon opted out of his contract with the Rays when the two sides could not reach an agreement on a long-term deal. After losing in the National League Divisional Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, there was speculation that Freidman would attempt to bring Maddon to Southern California to become the Dodgers manager. But Freidman has remained committed to Don Mattingly as the manager of the Dodgers. And with Maddon available, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein jumped on the opportunity to bring a manager to Chicago who’s name will sell tickets while also giving the beleaguered fan base there some hope.
Joe Maddon
In nine seasons as the manager of the Rays, Maddon did the impossible as he turned them into contenders. Before Maddon, the Rays were bottom feeders who idly sat by and watched the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox dominate the American League East. But with Maddon, the Rays would win the AL Pennant in 2008 along with four playoff appearances and a pair of division titles while also being a thorn in the side of the Yankees and Red Sox. The Rays became a team that would always send multiple players to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game every July and they were also a team that nobody wanted to face. But Maddon now takes on the task that good managers with the Cubs before him failed to do which is bring a World Series Championship back to Wrigley Field.
The Cubs have not been to the World Series since 1945 while they have failed to win the Fall Classic since 1908 which makes the Cubs fan base the most loyal and disgruntled group of sports fanatics in the United States.
Maddon inherits a young Cubs team that did show signs of life last season under Renteria as it was the organization’s first season since 2011 in which they did not lose 90 games. First baseman Anthony Rizzo emerged as a power hitter in the heart of the Cubs lineup as he hit 32 home runs which was second in the NL. Epstein and Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer are also high on young outfielders Jorge Soler and Junior Lake along with infielder Javier Baez as they are looked at as the future core of the Cubs. And for Maddon, the future is now.
In his introductory press conference with the Cubs this week, Maddon let it be known that he expects his team to contend immediately for a playoff spot in the National League. But the Cubs have to show they are no longer going to be bottom feeders as they have not finished higher than fifth in the NL Central since 2009 (until 2012, the NL Central was a six-team division). From the first day of spring training next year Maddon will instill in the Cubs that they should be division champs and that they are no longer going to lay down for the likes of the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the division while he also looks to avoid being sucked into the Bermuda Triangle on the North Side of Chicago.
Baseball Hall of Famer Leo Durocher managed the Cubs from 1966-1972, but he was unable to bring the Cubs to a title. There was the infamous collapse in 1969 by the Cubs that saw them blow a huge lead in the National League East to the upstart New York Mets who would ride the momentum to their first World Series Title. In 1984, the Cubs were up 2-0 in their best-of-five National League Championship Series with the San Diego Padres. The Padres had evened the series at two games apiece. And in Game 5, the Cubs would blow a three-run lead as they would fall to the Padres. In 2003, it was manager Dusty Baker that led the Cubs to a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS against the Florida Marlins. The Cubs had a three-run lead entering the eighth inning of Game 6, but the name Steve Bartman will forever live in Chicago sports lore as the Cubs were once again denied a trip to the World Series. In 2007, it was Lou Pinella that was asked to resurrect the Cubs as their manager. Pinella led the Cubs consecutive division titles in his first two seasons in Chicago, but under his watch the Cubs never won a playoff game as they were swept each time.
Since then the Cubs have become an afterthought which is what Maddon was brought in to fix their woes. Maddon did the impossible with the small-market Rays and his wide open approach will be welcomed in Chicago. Maddon’s introductory press conference was at a watering hole in Chicago and he showed that he was a man of the people as he bought a round of drinks for everyone there in attendance. If the managerial thing doesn’t work out for Maddon then he indeed has a future in politics. But if Maddon can do the impossible which is leading the Cubs to a World Series Championship, then he really could run for the mayoral position of Chicago. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet as winning with the Cubs is a very tough task.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
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