Levine: Cubs' Joe Maddon Gets 2nd In NL Manager Of The Year Voting
By Bruce Levine--
(CBS) The Cubs breaking their long championship drought wasn't quite enough for manager Joe Maddon to take home top honors in his respective role.
Maddon finished second in National League Manager of the Year voting, while Dodgers rookie manager Dave Roberts took home the award, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced Tuesday evening. Roberts finished with 108 points and 16 first-place votes, while Maddon had 70 points and eight first-place votes. Nationals manager Dusty Baker finished third. The award is voted on prior to the end of the regular season.
Regardless of how the end-of-the-year award voting played out, the consensus in baseball is the Cubs have the top manager in the game. That much was on display as the Cubs broke their championship drought of 108 years in a dream season that was orchestrated from start to finish by Maddon, who struck the right chord time and again.
"Maddon has taken a group of talented players and won the World Series," said a former general manager who's now a top scouting expert. "You have arguably the best players on the Cubs. That said, to win the pennant going wire to wire and then do something that hasn't been done in 108 years is special, beyond most accomplishments. Maddon got everything out of that team and more."
Maddon's Cubs won a league-best 103 regular-season games en route to the NL Central title, then won their first title since 1908 in a thrilling seven-game World Series against the Indians after getting past hard-fought series against the Giants and Dodgers. Maddon is a three-time winner of the Manager of the Year award -- in 2015 with the Cubs and in 2011 and 2008 with the Rays.
Roberts led the Dodgers to 91 wins and an NL West title amid a turbulent summer in which their pitching rotation was devastated by injuries. The Cubs beat the Dodgers in six games in the National League Championship Series.
Starting in spring training, Maddon prompted his players to "embrace the target" as the favorites to win the World Series and lightened the mood with a favorite phrase of his -- "try not to suck." That slogan was emblazoned on T-shirts, and Maddon often reminded his Cubs to not let the pressure exceed the pleasure.
Those mechanisms helped take away the pressure of the 108 years of championship futility. The Cubs simply downplayed the great expectations and kept the mood light while also receiving the message that they were the best team.
"Why not let that be a driving force to winning it all?" president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. "We made a decision to embrace the whole thing. Well, we looked to our manager for that."
Over the two years that the 62-year-old Maddon has managed the Cubs, they've won 200 games in the regular season, more than any other team.
Taking on the critics is a favorite pregame and postgame ritual of Maddon's. No manager in the history of organized baseball has ever liked getting second-guessed, but instead of barking at the critics, Maddon always jumps in in the fray with both feet. He always has an explanation of his moves and conviction in them, whether they work out or not.
Some of Maddon's moves in Game 6 and Game 7 of the World Series were questioned, but he didn't run for cover. He calmly pointed out his thinking, including a the controversial decisions to take out Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester at different points in the decisive Game 7 and bringing in Aroldis Chapman for another long save.
"Bar room conversations are great," Maddon said after his team prevailed with an 8-7 win in 10 innings in a game that will be remembered forever. "Sometimes people forget both teams are good. It's incredible how this all plays out sometimes."
In the end, the Cubs adhered to Maddon's wish to "try not to suck." With his superior managing and people skills setting him a notch above, they became champions.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
