After winning his 1,000th game as a major league manager, Joe Maddon reflected on the players who helped him reach this milestone as well as his coaches, from his midget football leaders in Hazleton, Pa., to his current Cubs coaching staff.
Maddon, 63, never reached above the Class-A level as a catcher, which he believed might have hurt his chances to manage in the majors. But he stuck with a formula that he believed would pay off some day.
“With 10 years as a major league coach, at some point, had to equal one at-bat in the big leagues,” Maddon said late Tuesday night after becoming the eighth active manager to reach the 1,000-win mark. “That was my personal equation, that I thought eventually if I spent 10 years as a coach, somebody may give me the opportunity.”
Maddon actually started coaching in the majors in 1994 but wasn’t hired as a manager on a full-time basis until 2006 with the Tampa Bay Rays, which helped his beliefs mesh with what he described as “new wave” methods instituted by management.
“And we still do,” Maddon said after taking a swig of “Big Smooth,” a Lodi, Calif.-based wine. “At that time, I was part of the group that was at the forefront of a lot of it, which really helped that group get a lot (better) than a lot had expected.”
It was more accelerated than the mid-1990s, when Maddon started using a laptop that he said weighed 25 pounds.
“And I used to get made fun of. But it started with that thought, and breaking down of stats in a rudimentary way where now it’s done for you.
“I’m looking forward to the next step back to the dark ages.”
Maddon believed the consistent theme from his first victory as interim manager of the Angels in 1996 to now has been keeping a simple game plan.
“It wasn’t confusing back then, meaning players didn’t go out there with a lot of thoughts in their head,” Maddon said.
Maddon also stressed the willingness to take a chance and not get stuck in traditional methods.
“Fortune does favor the bold,” Maddon said. “I’m more convinced of that than ever. Tell me what you think, not what you’ve heard. Those are the kind of concepts I believe in. That’s why I don’t get bogged down with a lot of stuff that is said.
“I think regurgitation is a big part of our society, and I prefer the big thinkers.”
John Lackey, who has known Maddon since he was a rookie in 2002 and Maddon was the bench coach for the Angels, wasn’t surprised by Maddon’s ascent.
“He always had a great mind for the game and always was easy to talk to,” said Lackey, who has the distinction of being the winning pitcher for Maddon’s 1,000th victory. “A lot of guys bounced things off him to see what (Mike) Scioscia was thinking. You could tell that he was going to be a manager someday.”
Maddon escaped without a celebratory beer shower, but Lackey plans to make up for that oversight soon.
“We’ll give it to him,” Lackey said. “We’ll give him whatever he needs, for sure.”
In the meantime, Maddon announced after the game that his Respect 90 Foundation will donate 1,000 meals to the needy in Chicago and 1,000 meals in the Tampa area.
“Anytime you can impact that part of society, it’s always a good thing,” Maddon said.
http://embed.sendtonews.com/player2/embedcode.php?fk=1K5jh214&cid=4591
