Cubs Introduce Joe Maddon as New Manager

"This is a one-in-a-107-year opportunity. With this ballpark and under these circumstances with this talent, this is an extraordinary moment."

The Chicago Cubs --- and its 107-year World Series championship drought -- is a team that chews through managers and spits them out.

But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm emanating from the Cubby Bear on Monday afternoon as the team introduced Joe Maddon as its new manager. 

"How could you not want to be in this city? That was then, this is now," Maddon told the media when asked about the team's history of going through managers. "This is a one-in-a-107-year opportunity. With this ballpark and under these circumstances with this talent, this is an extraordinary moment. The confluence of all these items coming together at the same time is pretty impressive." 

Maddon, who opted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays in late October after a long and successful run with the club, will take over a Cubs team that improved their record to 73-89 in 2014, but still has plenty of work to do. Theo Epstein and the Cubs' front office had Rick Renteria in place as manager, but opted to pursue Maddon as soon as he opted out of the contract. 

"We didn't go after Joe Maddon because he's a big ticket manager. We went after Joe Maddon because he's Joe Maddon," Epstein said of the rapid pursuit and acquisition of the manager's services. "We were caught with a dilemma on our hands, and ultimately my responsibility is to do what's right for the Cubs organization as a whole. 

"It's a unique opportunity when someone like Joe Maddon becomes available, and I wouldn't have been doing my job if I didn't pounce on that," he added. 

Of course, Maddon's arrival on the North Side will come with immediate pressure and expectations, but befitting his reputation as a guy who tries to inspire his players to achieve great things while keeping the pressure on them to a dull roar, the 60-year old made sure to emphasize that this team's goals should remain lofty while also being achievable. 

"Don't ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure," he said. "That's on the top of my lineup card every night. This is baseball. It's a game. When we're playing games in September and October, I want them to play like it's March 15. Never change the way you play the game. If you train yourself to play the game the same way regardless of the date on the calendar, you can play well in pressure moments." 

Maddon also lived up to his reputation as a manager with a life away from the baseball field, saying that he doesn't want his players to feel that they have to live and breathe baseball at every moment in order to win his approval. 

"The players don't have to be the first one there and the last one to leave to impress me," he said. "I have a life outside of baseball. I don't like being in a concrete bunker watching TV all day. If we have a 7 o'clock game, I'm not going to be here at 1pm." 

Ultimately, Maddon wasn't brought in just to make the Cubs into a competitive team: he was brought in to bring them a World Series championship. While acknowledging that there is pressure to succeed, Maddon wants to provide a structure where the players embrace that pressure. 

"I'm going to be talking playoff next year," he said. "It's all about setting our goals high. I'm going to talk World Series this year, and I'm going to believe it. I don't know exactly when it will happen, but in my mind's eye, we're going to make the playoffs next year." 

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