Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Maddon was named National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday. In his first season with the Chicago Cubs, Maddon took the National League prize following the club’s first postseason appearance since 2008. He also won in the AL with Tampa Bay in 2008 and 2011. The Cubs finished 97-65, a 24-win improvement that represented the majors’ biggest turnaround, in posting their first winning record since 2009.
“It’s really good to know that what you believe in works in other places,” Maddon said during a break from his pizza-and-wine celebration with family and friends. “I didn’t tweak anything. It was the same approach.”
“It’s not overachieving necessarily as much as it is understanding how to play this game daily and actually meeting your level of expectation regarding the talent level, because the talent level is that good,’’ Maddon said.
Maddon received 18 of 30 first-place votes and 124 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He beat out St. Louis’ Mike Matheny and the New York Mets’ Terry Collins by a surprisingly comfortable margin, becoming the seventh manager to win the award at least three times and the seventh to earn it in both leagues.
“To be the steward of this wonderful group of young players, I feel very fortunate,” Maddon said on MLB Network.
