Joe Maddon is probably the most unconventional manager in baseball, so it’s no surprise that his meeting with the Chicago Cubs came in an unconventional way.
Maddon held his introductory press conference at a Chicago bar on Monday and shared the funny circumstances surrounding his first meeting with Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.
“The two gentleman met me at the RV park in Pensacola, Fla.,” Maddon said Monday. “Jaye (Maddon’s wife) and I were on a cross-country trip from Tampa to California, and we holed up in Navarrre beach near Pensacola. That’s when we finally got in touch with Jed and Theo.
“We sat behind the ‘Cousin Eddie,’ that’s our RV — the Cousin Eddie, 43-foot Winnebago. We sat back there and talked philosophy about how this was going to work.”
For a visual, here’s the “Cousin Eddie”:
Thee Cousin Eddie about ready to roll ! pic.twitter.com/q7VBoXUtc8
— Joe Maddon (@Maddonini) October 16, 2014
Maddon also said some things that will probably help the franchise turn things around quickly. For instance, his mentality is that the Cubs are going to be in the playoffs next year.
“For me, I’m going to be talking playoffs next year. Because I can’t go to spring training and say any other thing,” said Maddon. “Why even report? It’s about setting your standards and your goals high. I’m going to talk playoffs and I’m going to talk World Series this year … and I’m going to believe it.”
Maddon praised the Cubs organization, describing it as “youthful” and “talented.”
Epstein seems to be equally high on Maddon, describing the manager as a combination of old school and new school.
I’m on the record saying I think the Cubs are going to be a force in the NL, probably in two years. They have so many good position players in the system that their lineup is going to be stacked. And now they have a fantastic manager in place. Maddon is a savant. That’s a great hire for the Cubs.
Below is the full press conference:
