Levine: Cubs' Joe Maddon Named NL Manager Of The Year
By Bruce Levine--
(CBS) Don't let the pressure take away from the pleasure.
That has been the mantra of the Cubs skipper Joe Maddon since he began managing in the early 1980s. It was also his go-to line this past season, his first in Chicago, where he led the young, blossoming Cubs to 97 wins and a trip to the NLCS.
For his leadership, Maddon has been named the National League Manager of the Year, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced Tuesday evening. Maddon nabbed 18 out of 30 first-place votes and finished with 124 total points. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was second with nine first-place votes and 87 points, while Mets manager Terry Collins was third with three first-place votes and 49 points.
Maddon's passive-aggressive style has resonated with big league players since taking his first MLB managing assignment with Tampa Bay in 2006, and it did so again this season. The Cubs' 97 wins marked a 24-game improvement over 2014, when they went 73-89.
Mixing in the message that working together to win is fun, Maddon brought the best out of young players and veterans alike.
"Just from the very first day of spring training, he told us to go out and just be ourselves," said third baseman Kris Bryant, who was crowned the NL Rookie of the Year on Monday. "He told us not to change the way we play. He was just a laid-back manager. It was easy to play for him. He brought the best out in me. A lot of our success was him leading the way, keeping things calm and comfortable."
The Maddon magic is based on 40 years of watching what doesn't work handling ballplayers. After seeing others fail with a slave-labor mentality toward players, Maddon implemented a system that allows the individual player latitude to manage his own day at the ballpark. As an example, the savvy Maddon doesn't demand any batting practice from his team. The Cubs followed a plan in which batting practice was optional 90 percent of the time. The whole idea of batting practice is eschewed by Maddon, unless there's a specific aspect a hitter is trying to work on.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo invented the postgame winning celebration for team members after the Cubs won games in 2014, and Maddon took it to a new level in 2015. The clubhouse would resemble a disco party, with smoke and strobe lights marking the scene for 10 minutes after every win. Those moments of team jocularity helped bring a team full of new players and new coaches together quickly.
On the field, Maddon approached most games -- including all of them in the second half of the season -- like the seventh game of the World Series. He looked after early leads like George Patton taking new ground in Normandy. The aggressive Maddon wouldn't hesitate to take a starting pitcher out in the fourth or fifth inning with a lead he wanted to hold. The disappointment by pitchers like Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks was soon washed away with team wins in the Maddon way.
The most crucial move made by Maddon was risky. He replaced three-time All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro with 21-year-old rookie Addison Russell on Aug. 7 amid the thick of the playoff race. Instead of sulking, Castro -- with prodding from his agent Paul Kinzer and Maddon -- took on the challenge of becoming the everyday second baseman. The end result was Russell becoming one of the best defensive shortstops in the league, making only two errors in the final 52 regular-season games. Simultaneously, Castro hit an MLB-high .426 in September, as both players helped drive the Cubs into the postseason.
The passive part of Maddon always hid the aggressive side until it was needed to hammer home winning situations. The petting zoos, magic acts and pajama parties that he spearheaded for his team were just fun diversions to take away the pressure and repetition of playing 200 games played from March through mid-October.
This is Maddon's third manager of the year award. He won the American League Manager of the Year award in 2008 and 2011. Maddon is the seventh manager to win the award three times. He became the fourth Cubs manager to win the award, joining Jim Frey in 1984, Don Zimmer in 1989 and Lou Piniella in 2008.
He has compiled a career 878-794 record, a .525 winning percentage. The surprising, ironic part of Maddon's outstanding resume is that as a minor league manager, he never had a winning season, going 60 games under .500 in six seasons in the Angels' system in the 1980s.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
