Chicago Cubs: Sweet talkin’ Joe Maddon is back!

Lest anyone think Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon will no longer be entertaining the media, Maddon recently expounded on his quest to become more millennial-friendly with his players.

Fans heard a lot during the off-season about Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon being more of a field and hands-on coach in 2019. The other part of the transformation was supposed to have Maddon playing less of a media darling role full of entertaining quips, moments and rounds of drinks for reporters.

Hopefully good for all of us, sweet talkin’ Joe is back! After hiding under his covers all offseason with a flashlight and a book, Maddon has emerged; still the media darling but now with the mind of a 19-year-old.

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The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan reported that Maddon’s transformation was the result of the book he read all winter in hopes of helping him understand his younger players better. Maddon used ”Managing Millennial’s for Dummies,” as his new communication guide to bridge the generational gap.

Maddon is hoping to connect on a level that will keep communication open the whole season with his youngest players. Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan reported on Maddon’s thoughts about the young Cubs and getting at their best game:

"“My dad, that generation, thought we were a bunch of babies,” Maddon said. “The (baby) boomers, the traditionalists thought we were all soft. And then you think the (Generation) Xers are soft. The Xers think the millennials are soft. It doesn’t matter. You have to figure out how to communicate and extract the best out of this group. And make sure you’re always on the same page. That’s what I’ve been studying.”"

What Maddon is talking about is the message. The message hasn’t changed for the Cubs or their players and staff. It remains to be tight fielding and consistent batting. What has changed is how the message is delivered. For millennial’s, Sullivan reports that Maddon is looking at email and texts as his new delivery method.

"In short, Maddon said his job is to present the information “clearly” to the millennials and “get to the point” of the subject matter…He now understands they prefer to communicate via texts or emails."

No one is going to hold it against Maddon or Epstein for trying to be a better communicator. I salute the initiative and the lengths they’ve gone to talk and understand each other.  It’s working; Sullivan reported Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks was positive about Maddon’s-Millennial talk.

"“His ideas and messages are flowing right through into this clubhouse, and we’re all loving it so far.”"

But this is still baseball. The same game with some newer funky twists, but still baseball. So let’s not forget that the Cubs didn’t have to talk cool, send texts or set up an XBOX station in their dugout for millennials in 2016 when they won the world series. They played baseball “On fleek” (Millennial for perfect), and today I’m sure all Cubs fans would rather see multi-runs on the scoreboard, then a hip Joe Maddon.

Sorry, not sorry.