This is Why Joe Maddon is the Best
There is little doubt that Joe Maddon is on the Mount Rushmore of MLB coaches, but it is sometimes hard to quantify why our how he is so successful. He isn’t a traditional game manager, but he’s not exactly a pure Sabermetrics guy either. By all accounts he doesn’t call players out and doesn’t give you fluff either. While these are part of the reasons why he’s good, here’s why Joe Maddon is the best.
Ok, so events like having clowns come out to spring training won’t help Anthony Rizzo hit .300 this season, but it does play a part in the team winning.
Crazy day in #Cubs camp pic.twitter.com/mrokptp9Xp
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) February 29, 2016
Events like this keep the team loose, and removes some of the pressure they feel t9 perform. Especially when the Chicago Cubs have such incredibly high expectations (FanGraphs gives the Cubs a 94% chance of making the playoffs). This is something that many enterprises in corporate America have begun to do over the past several years to improve employer moral by keeping a fun environment.
Maddon doesn’t bring clowns and animals out to relieve the pressures of submitting your TPS reports on time, but to help keep the pressures of expectations perform, win, and ending a 100+ year championship drought.
And it works.
Whether it’s dressing like a Disney Princess or clowns or pajama road trips, Maddon keeps the team loose, which in turn removes some of the distractions and pressures that a 162 game season brings a club. Removing the pressure allows the team, especially young players, go about their business on the field. Watch these kids on the field, watch Starlin Castro mimic Kris Bryant, watch the helmet rubs, watch the funny dress ups, and watch a sloth crawling on your favorite Cub just before they hit a huge home run just hours later.
From outside looking in, all of these gimmicks seem to be just that, a gimmick. But ask those guys in the lockerroom on what these breaks from the monotony of the game means to them, and it’s huge.
These reasons are why Joe can get away with making the poor Sabermetric move, or aggressively manage a seemingly meaningless game in July. He is rewarded with superior effort in the dog days because he gives mental deposits to his players.
So surely expect a fun season on the field, and expect plenty more weird fun events all season long.
