Maddon Not a Fan of 3:05 p.m. Start Times for Cubs

Joe Maddon may have a laid-back attitude that has rubbed off on the Chicago Cubs, but there is apparently at least one thing about the organization that he is pretty gung ho about changing.

That thing is the start time of select Friday and Saturday games beginning at 3:05 p.m. The Cubs lobbied the city of Chicago to allow them the late afternoon start times in order to increase attendance and to make it easier for fans to get out of work to attend games, but Maddon isn’t a fan of the scheduling quirk.

“I definitely had that talk with the guys upstairs,” Maddon told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s awkward. I’m not going to deny it’s awkward. You get used to playing at 1 p.m. or 6 or 7.”

The Cubs generally have had two start times for weekday games, with 1:20 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. first pitches for day and night games respectively, and an additional 12:05 p.m. start time for occasional Saturday games. 

Managing the Cubs will always mean having to play a large amount of day games at Wrigley Field, as the team is currently limited to just 43 night games per season while most teams get to schedule much higher numbers.

While Maddon has expressed his concern to the business team in charge of the Cubs, he knows that his influence on the matter is likely limited. 

“Hopefully that’s something we can work our way through,” he said. “I know I don’t have any influence on that right now. I’m not even trying to influence that. But it’s something to discuss moving forward.”

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