Chicago Cubs: Top 3 Maddonisms we don’t want in a new skipper

Chicago Cubs: Never permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure

Now that Maddon has exited the ball park, no one from the Chicago Cubs front office is going to rain on his parade. However, for those of us who have been following the colorful Maddon for some time, we know that there was lots of talk about his being ‘too much’ in the media. He seemed to be always “selling” the Cubs, his plan, his thoughts, his style and his art, as opposed to those managers who can have some fun with the media and then head back to the ballpark.

Maddon seemed to be a Chicago Cubs promoter in a room full of fans during many times in his Chicago career. The pressure never did exceed the pleasure for the three-time Manager of the Year.  Epstein is looking to put some seriousness back into the club. It’s almost as if he’s saying, “We want a fun club, not Club Fun,” and the club having the most fun is one that is winning.

Epstein wants the new manager to feel the pressure of winning and grinding, because the Cubs still feel they are going to be fielding a championship-worthy, not rebuilding team, in 2020. If that’s not pressure for a new manager than they must have hired Steve McQueen’s corpse to manage.

While everyone wants the pleasure of winning, it doesn’t come easy. Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Milwaukee Brewers. There is always intense pressure that will happen for many weeks and months before the pleasure can begin.

Time to get serious.