Trying Not to Suck: Joe Maddon Interview

WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon to talk about his new book, THE BOOK OF JOE.

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WDCB 90.9 FM · The Arts Section: Joe Maddon Reveals Life Lessons In New Book

“It’s more than just baseball, hopefully there’s a leadership component to it. And that was it, it had to be more than just your typical baseball book, I was not interested in that.” - 3-time MLB Manager of the Year Joe Maddon talking about what he wanted to include in THE BOOK OF JOE.

Former Cubs manager Joe Maddon

It’s been six years since the Chiago Cubs broke one of the longest curses in professional sports. Back in 2016, the lovable losers beat the Cleavland Indians to win their first World Series since 1908. Even if you don’t consider yourself a sports fan, it was impossible to escape Cubsmania that fall. The person often credited with making that century-in-the-making dream a reality is Joe Maddon. The three-time MLB manager of the year did what no other Cubs skipper had been able to do in over a hundred years, win the World Series.

The glow of that championship didn’t last as long as you might expect. The northsiders parted ways with Maddon in the fall of 2019 (he went on to manage the team he broke in with, the Angels). The Cubs are rebuilding and Maddon is out of baseball for the first time in over four decades. But he’s keeping busy with the release of his first book, simply titled THE BOOK OF JOE. He co-wrote it with award-winning baseball journalist Tom Verducci. The book offers an in-depth look back at a life in baseball, Maddon played in the minor leagues in the late 70s before becoming a scout, then a coach and eventually a Major League manger. It also explores Maddon’s outside the box thinking, which helped set him apart from a generation of baseball minds that tended to see things the same way. But the book also makes it clear that despite Maddon’s innovative spirit, he also has a deep respect for baseball’s past.

THE BOOK OF JOE is available everywhere books are sold. Maddon will be signing books at Anderson’s Bookshop in Downers Grove on Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm.