Chastain Bill - Try not to suck: the exceptional, extraordinary baseball life of Joe Maddon

To Patti, Carly, and Kel

Bill Chastain

To my kids, Nate, Carly, and Emily

Jesse Rogers

Contents

Foreword by Ben Zobrist

Joe Maddon has had a profound effect on my life and career as a baseball player. I played for him in Tampa Bay then joined him in Chicago the year after he became the manager of the Cubs. Hes always been a huge advocate of mine. I always felt, from early on, that I owed a lot to him professionally, at the major league level, because of his belief in me as a player, and his ability to communicate that to me when I was young. I needed that. I remember, after two weeks, being in the major leagues and struggling at this level, and trying to figure out if I really did belong here. He told me, I just want you to relax, man. Youre going to be a great major league player. He said, Mark my words, youre going to play in this league for at least 10 years.

I remember him saying that. I remember exactly where we were. We were out in the infield in Oakland, we were playing the Athletics that series. It was my first road trip with the team and I started off 1-for-13. I just started off really slow offensively, just trying to figure out how to hit major league pitching. And when he said that, I remember thinking to myself, Hes crazy. How can he say that? Hes just pumping me full of whatever. He cant really know that. But he saw something in me that I didnt even see in myself back then, when I was just two weeks into the league. He saw something in my work ethic, in the way that I approached the game, in my abilities and my talents. And he saw the intangibles in me. He really watered that seed regarding my talent and ability at the major league level.

At this level, so many times you kind of assume, Alright, a guy is who he is. Hes going to either figure it out or notits up to him. But it was important to himeven from his first year in Tampa Bayto create an environment that fostered that growth as a player. It was perfect timing to experience that, and be a part of that growth. Its one thing that makes Joe so special.

Before I came to Chicago, Joe made a very, very strong pitch to me. I played for him and had some good years under him in Tampa Bay, and he always said incredibly nice things about me in the media. I always did the same about him, but you never know how thats going to change when you go somewhere else. All of a sudden, someone goes somewhere else and hes got another team and Im playing against him, and things change.

But Joes rhetoric and tone about me never changed, even after I wasnt playing for him. Even to the point where, when I was with Kansas City in 2015 and I was coming up on free agency, we played a one game make-up in Chicago, and he and bench coach Davey Martinez both came up to me and made their pitch. Basically, You would love it here. Youd be perfect for this group of guys. This would be an unbelievable place to play. Every day, its just unbelievable.

That means a lot, just them making their pitch, trying to get me to feel wanted, to be with him again, even as an older player, to mix in with this group of younger players. Theyve seen me at every stage. Joes seen me as a rookie, hes seen me as I blossomed in my career, as I became an All-Star, and then as I became a free agent and did things on other teams. And, being a veteran now, hes always believed in me. Thats all you need to know about that relationship. If theres one thing as a player you would want to know, its that your manager believes in you. Joe showed me that time and again.

So, knowing that Joe was here, and knowing how he was able to get the most out of young players, including myself back in Tampa Bay, and also knowing his personality, knowing how he makes it a fun environment to work in every day, and how he tries to take pressure off of players, I knew that he was going to do great in Chicago. I knew that I wanted to be around that again.

The other thing for me was that we didnt ultimately get to accomplish what we wanted to in Tampa Bay, which was winning a championship there. And when he went to Chicago, and I had won one in Kansas City, at that point knowing that Joe was there just made it absolutely feel like icing on the cake. Not only if I could win this championship in Chicagoit hasnt been done in 108 yearsbut to do it with my manager and bench coach, when wed worked together for so many years down in Tampa Bay, it was like, that would just be the ultimate career accomplishment. It was just something that I really, really wanted to do. So I signed and we won it my first year.

Thats what Joe Maddon means to me, but I also think hes had a real impact on baseball. He really represents a transition in the game when it comes to the managers role. When he showed up in 2006, managers were still pretty traditional in the way they approached players and the culture created in the clubhouse, especially young players. He came in right away and said were going to be different. He came in and made his own mark in the game. I think once Tampa Bay started rolling, and we started to make a dent in that divisionwhich was such a powerhousehis ways kind of got everyones attention, especially his philosophies and things he was doing to get a lot out of such a young team. I was a part of that. I saw it. Just like later, in Chicago.

Now you see some of the newer managers in the game are a lot more open to changing the culture in the clubhouse and not staying so stuck in the rigid rules, letting players flourish and be themselves. Since the time Joe Maddon showed up, he was the guy that wanted to make everyone feel comfortable and become the best version of themselves. Thats a philosophy in his own life he carries, but he wants everyone around him to feel the same way. In this book youll learn how Maddon became who he is and how, together, along with the rest of the Cubs organization, we broke the longest championship drought in pro sports history. The Hall of Fame generally hinges more on numbers than anything, but if Joe Maddon has the numbers then hes a slam dunk because of the impact hes made in the game of baseball.

Ben Zobrist

1. The Hat

One thought entered Joe Maddons mind when Chicago Cubs MVP third baseman Kris Bryant threw the ball across the diamond to All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the final out in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

Just one thought.

One hundred eight, Maddon said months later during the teams next spring training. Just 108.

One hundred eight represented the years between championships for the formerly hapless Cubs. It was the longest championship drought in professional sports history; the Holy Grail of championships, people would call it. Like the chalice itself, a World Series victory from the longtime team from the North Side of Chicago seemed impossible to come by.

But Maddon led a revival culminating in this Game 7 win. A victory he would actually have to answer critical questions about later because it nearly slipped away from him. Rain, of all things, may have saved Maddon from a torrent of criticism potentially unmatched in baseball history. The one thing that all fans of the game dislike equally turned into the Cubs savior: rain. Not long after the Cleveland Indians tied Game 7 at 77, the sky opened, forcing Maddons team to regroup.

He did as well.

Im walking down into the clubhouse and I see the players veer off to the right, Maddon recalled. I go up to my office and I wanted to see the weather map. And I see my bag right there. And Im like, Its time for my dad . So I look at the weather map and then after that I grab my dads hat and stuff it down the back of my pants underneath my hoodie and I said to myself, Lets go. I took him back out there with me and during the course of that next inning I kept touching it back there.