Levine: Cubs Will Stay Relaxed No Matter The Outcome

By Bruce Levine--

NEW YORK (CBS) -- The Cubs don't plan to let the pressure of the NLCS to take away from the pleasure. Manager Joe Maddon came into Cubs Nation with that credo, and he has now dusted it off for the media during this deep postseason run.

Maddon has done the job of taking the pressure off his young group all season. Maybe more importantly, the 60-year-old baseball sage has assisted the some of the tighter-wound veterans. Some of that group needed positive reinforcement and latitude to get the most out of their profound tool set.

"Believe me, I am really trying to stay out of the way of our guys," Maddon insisted. "Our guys are in a really good place right now. You're not going to see any really big surprises the next seven days, if it takes that long."

The pregame clubhouse remained the same as the Cubs ready to face the Mets on Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday night in New York. Voluntary batting practice continues to be a theme for this relaxed group.

"We are just going to play the typical game we always play," Maddon said. "We have tried to be emphatic about telling the group to go play, don't do anything differently. If we execute better, we will win the game."

As my teachers and coaches told me as a young person, keeping it simple is the way to go. Nobody this side of "Trader Jack" McKeon has ever done it better than Maddon. As a teacher of life lessons, he has few peers.

Maddon brought out his baseball 101 pamphlet for the reporters Saturday.

"Here it is, I tell my guys to go out and make as many physical errors as you want to," he said. "I have no problem with physical mistakes. My problems are with mental mistakes. Whereas they are not doing their homework, you're making bad decisions after what previously happened. That is the part of the game I am really tuned into my conversations with the players. The mental mistakes are what cause you to lose."

Maddon relies on the team's main sports head shrink to add the positive touch to the clubhouse.

"I am a big believer in that," he said. "A lot of groups aren't. I have been a big proponent of that since the mid-80s. That is a skill, not unlike a pitching coach or hitting coach. This guy can help you with processing a moment (a negative result). Why would you not want to utilize that?"

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.