Joe Maddon is not like other managers in baseball and maybe that helped him have so much success in his nine seasons with the Rays.
Hoping to break the 106-year championship drought as the new manager of the Cubs, Maddon didn’t waste anytime showcasing his unique personality to Chicago.
On Monday, Maddon made his first appearance in a Cubs uniform at a press conference held at a bar across the street from Wrigley Field.
The press conference was a preview of what’s to come when the small-market manager reaches the big city.
1. Maddon divulged his managerial interview with Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer took place at an RV park in Pensacola, Florida — a pit stop on Maddon’s cross-country trip with his wife, Jaye.
“We kind of sat behind the Cousin Eddie. That’s our RV, the Cousin Eddie, a 43-foot Winnebago,” Maddon said of his National Lampoon-inspired vehicle. “And we sat back there and pretty much just talked philosophy about how this is all going to work. For me, that was the most important thing. That’s what I needed to know, that we were philosophically aligned.”
2. Maddon signed a five-year, $25 million deal to take over the long-suffering franchise. Still, Maddon couldn’t help but look like Will Ferrell’s disheveled caricature of famed Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray. He was not asked if he’d eat the moon if it was made of spare ribs.
Wait, did the Cubs hire Joe Maddon or "Will Ferrell as Harry Caray" to manage the team? pic.twitter.com/kJ4Rl8rIoQ
— The Beat of Sports (@thebeatofsports) November 3, 2014
3. He wasted no time raising the expectations for a franchise that has finished fifth in the NL Central for five straight seasons, and, you know, has not won a World Series since 1908.
“I’m gonna be talking playoffs next year,” Maddon said. “I’ll tell you that right now. I can’t go to spring training and say anything else. You have to set your goals high, because if you don’t set them high enough you might hit your mark, and that’s not a good thing. We’re gonna talk World Series this year, and I’m gonna believe it. It’s in our future.”
4. There’s this, too.
Maddon now talking about feeling like he was in a computer simulation in Wrigley. Talking like your high college roommate right now.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) November 3, 2014
5. And the 60-year-old offered to buy a round for everyone in attendance, which is the perfect way to get sportswriters on your good side.
“The Hazelton way,” Maddon said, referring to his Pennsylvania hometown.
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