Joe Maddon: 'I Feel Fortunate To Be In This Moment'

By Chris Emma--

ST. LOUIS (CBS) -- When the Cubs and Cardinals last met three weeks ago at Wrigley Field, Chicago manager Joe Maddon was feisty after a bean-ball war took place. In St. Louis on Friday, Maddon was in his usual relaxed form. Old memories returned to Maddon as he entered Busch Stadium.

Maddon grew up in Hazelton, Penn., rooting for the Cardinals, especially his favorite player, Bob Gibson. He savored days listening to games on KMOX.

"That was my team," Maddon said of the 1960s Cardinals.

Now, Maddon is leading the Cubs into St. Louis and looking to knock off the local favorites as Game 1 of the NLDS approaches Friday evening.

Keeping respect to his childhood favorites, Maddon said he was hoping to meet Gibson some day. But his focus Friday was on overseeing a win in St. Louis and taking a series lead.

"I feel fortunate to be in this moment," Maddon said of leading the Cubs to this stage.

Friday brings a different feeling from Wednesday's one-game wild-card in Pittsburgh. The Cubs would go on to earn a 4-0 win in that one, but the tension of a win-or-go-home game brought a burden.

The Cubs have been notably loose through the pressure of this 2015 season, though going from the high-stakes wild-card to a best-of-five series brings something new, according to Maddon.

"When you go through Game 7 of the World Series first, it kind of sets you up for the rest of it," Maddon said.

"I really anticipate that we're going to have our feet on the ground. I do."

Cubs left-hander Jon Lester is set to match up with Cardinals right-hander John Lackey on Friday night, with Maddon making out a lineup favorable to Lester's tendencies and Lackey's mound approach. He did have an error in place originally, accidentally putting Kyle Schwarber in left field and Chris Coghlan in right field, but that was later changed.

To no surprise, Maddon was loose as usual, keeping his cool demeanor before the NLDS begins. He even had his humor at work, touching on his managing days up the road in Peoria and the near-nightly stops at Steak & Shake.

"I like 'Takhomasak,'" Maddon said. "First of all, who came up with that? Pure genius."