Joe Maddon has accomplished more than any Cubs manager ever.
But Tuesday night saw the statistical low point of his tenure on the North Side with the Cubs eliminated from the postseason with a loss to the Colorado Rockies in the NL wild card game. After three straight trips to the NLCS and a curse-smashing World Series win in 2016, the fourth straight appearance in the playoffs ended after just one game.
Though the level of success is unparalleled in franchise history, Maddon’s critics – no matter what walks of life they come from – have been vocal throughout the past four seasons.
Maddon’s pitching decisions in the final games of the 2016 World Series have remained a hot-button topic among Chicago sports fans two years later. Former catcher Miguel Montero notably criticized Maddon on the radio on the day of the team’s championship parade. And every move he makes earns a chorus of second guessing on social media.
But after the Cubs’ 2018 season came to a crashing halt Tuesday night – Wednesday morning, actually, by the time the 13-inning affair ended – there were no vocal critics to be found inside the home clubhouse.
Heck, MVP candidate Javy Baez – who spent much of his day calling out critics – stepped up to defend his skipper from the barrage of judgment.
“They don’t say that when he makes a good move and he wins the game. They didn’t say that in ’16 when we won, when he came and everything was changed. We love our manager,” Baez said, perhaps selectively forgetting the ire directed at Maddon even after the Cubs broke the curse. “The way he talks to us and the way he lets us do whatever we want, be us out here, I think it has a lot to do with what we do out there because we’ve got to be ourselves. When we do something right, he will tell us, and when you do something wrong, he will tell you the same way. And that’s what makes him better because he’s honest and he wants you to get better, too.”
“I just feel like people are saying more bad things than good things about people in general. I mean, that’s tough, but that’s the world we live in now,” third baseman Kris Bryant said. “Joe always does a great job with us. He always has our best interest in mind, and we won 95 games during the regular season. That’s pretty impressive. But we didn’t win the one game that really counted, and that’s where it’s going to hurt.”
It’s easy for a frustrated fan to fire off a “Fire Maddon!” tweet, but have the Cubs become an organization of such high expectations that the results of this season, 95 wins and a fourth consecutive playoff berth, just weren’t enough? The team has been adamant about its own “World Series or bust” expectations since spring training. Would failing to meet those expectations mean a change in the manager’s chair?
“I don’t know what to say about that. I can’t think of (it). I don’t make that kind of decision,” catcher Willson Contreras said when asked if he could envision playing for a manager that wasn’t Maddon. “But Joe is a great manager. He’s been great for this team. He made this team a winner, the front office made this team a winner. They were able to pull a lot of young talent together.
“We’re like a family, we love each other, we win and lose together. And there’s nothing that I can do about that. We’re here to play baseball, and that’s a decision I cannot control.
“If he’s here or not, we have to keep going and move forward.”
There’s just one year left on Maddon’s contract with the Cubs, so at some point a decision is inevitable. His players provided plenty of plaudits, though they made it clear they won’t be the ones making that decision. Neither will the social-media critics.
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