Chicago Cubs: The Game Within the Game
Two darn good managers. Two pretty good teams with the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. And while the battle is taking place on the field, another one is being conducted in the dugouts. And that one is worth paying attention to as well.
Joe Maddon, the three time Manager of the Year of the Chicago Cubs, is quoted in the New York Daily News today as having this to say about his counterpart in the San Francisco Giants dugout, “He’s (Bruce Bochy) a cowboy,” Maddon said. “He’ll do anything and when you’re managing against a cowboy it’s always interesting.”
You bet it is. And rarely do we get to see two men with divergent managerial views go head to head in a series as important as this one. And Maddon nailed it, Bruce Bochy is that wild mustang still roaming free on the prairie who manages mostly by sense and feel – you know – that thing we call gut instinct.
If you ask Bochy, ” Hey Skip, did you have a chance to look at the sabermetrics on Lester last night?”, He’s more than likely to answer back, ” Gosh, I don’t know. What part of his body is that?” That’s who he is. Plain and simple.
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At first glance, his rival would strike you that way too. Definitely, old school. Especially with that professorial scruffy beard and those 19th century horn rim glasses. But Maddon does hit the computer once in a while and he does check out most of the stats. But he’s also the guy that keeps the team loose with a steady hand and a ever present upbeat approach. He’s the same manager who “challenged” his team to win 100 games when they already had 99 with seven still to play. Say what, Joe? Don’t underestimate him though because the man always has a plan.
Bochy, on the other hand, likes to give off the impression that the only plan he ever had is a plan to not have a plan.And that works for him and it spills over on his team as well. The Giants do not play scared. Repeat that please cause it’s important. The Giants do not play scared.
They snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season like they always knew they would, even after one of the most prolific second half train wrecks in the history of baseball. That’s the way cowboys do everything – straight ahead.
Maddon’s team is of a different sort. First of all, they’re younger and they haven’t appeared in three World Series in the last six years (and won them all). They’re also carrying the weight of the overhyped (but real) Cubs curse on their backs. But that’s where the genius of Joe Maddon comes to play. Loosey goosey boys, just go out there and play the game you’ve loved to play since you were six years old, and the rest will take care of itself.
Both of these teams are better than either the Dodgers or Nationals and it’s too bad one of them will be home by this time next week. But for now at least, we get the chance to see two of baseball’s best managers go at it – each in his own way.