Epstein: It's OK for Cubs fans to think big
MESA, Ariz. — You wanted different with the Cubs. You got different.
Things aren't even officially under way at spring training with on-field activities, but the Cubs are off and running in a big way.
Pitchers and catchers reported Thursday and will conduct their first formal workouts Friday.
But many players and staff members have been at Sloan Park for some time.
New manager Joe Maddon brought his coaches together Wednesday for what looked to be an on-the-field tour, as he went over numerous aspects of the game.
Oh, and there are the heightened expectations for these supposedly new-and-improved Cubs. Team president Theo Epstein appeared at a spring-opening news conference with Maddon and general manager Jed Hoyer on Thursday and said it's OK for Cubs fans to think big.
“Yeah, I think our fans are certainly entitled to get excited,” said Epstein, who is beginning his fourth season at the head of the franchise's baseball operations. “We've put them through a lot these last few years. They've been incredibly patient, incredibly supportive.
“We're realistic about where we are. We're talented. We're young. We're excited about the season ahead. I don't want to temper our fans' enthusiasm. At the same time, you still need to be patient with a lot of our players, especially our young players. There's a great mood in camp. There's a great mood among our fans. It's the right time to get excited and keep that going and try to get off to a good start.”
Maddon brings a sense of bing a little “out there,” especially for a 61-year-old guy. Instead of sounding jaded or tired about the length of spring training, he said it was just right and that the weather is great and that he could go home at the end of the day and enjoy a nice glass of wine.
But there's also a serious side to the new manager. On Wednesday, he had coaches outdoors for about two hours to get things ready.
“That goes back to my first year, 1981, as a manager/scout with the Angels in Casa Grande,” Maddon said. “That was something you always did down there. You'd walk through your fundamentals. I much prefer walking through the fundamentals on the field with the staff as opposed to sitting in a room with a chalkboard and writing things on a chalkboard.
“So that's a ritual or a rite that I've done since 1981. I love it, especially in a new situation like this with new coaches, understanding what's been going on here the last couple of years, trying to maybe impose a couple of new things. But I like the idea of walking out there in a very non-pressurized situation … just get out there in the fresh air on a regular baseball field and let's walk through relays and cutoffs and first-and-third defense and how we're going to go first to third and things like that.”
Of course, it's all going to be about the players, and Maddon and those players will spend the next six weeks getting to know each other.
“A lot of it will have to do with relationship building,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with trust. A lot of it has to do with just the respect of the day and the discipline of the day. Those are the kinds of things we really want to get across, especially in the first moment, that the players understand that coming from me and how I feel about these things.
“The one thing I tell you and I'm going to tell the players: 'You have my respect, and I'm going to have to earn yours.' That's the big thing about the daily part of a camp, especially when you're coming into a new organization like I am right now. I'm really excited about it, couldn't be more excited about it.”
Much of the talk about heightened expectations was fueled by first baseman Anthony Rizzo and his proclamations that the Cubs would win the National League Central. Rizzo is one of many position players in camp early, and he was asked about his teammates' reactions to his bold talk, which began on the final day of last season.
“They were all wondering if I was going to say, 'What, are we going to finish in fourth place?'” Rizzo said. “Everyone's really excited. It's good. We're coming in here and we're preparing to win. The biggest thing is to get everyone pulling for each other, to become one unit, to become one team. We've all got to pull for each other, from the first man to the 25th man, whoever it is in that spot. Everyone's going to be able to be a hero every single day on our team. When someone's in that position to succeed, we've all got to be pulling for him.
“It's our jobs as players now to keep changing the culture here and keep the winning attitude. I've never won before, but David Ross has, Jon Lester has. Jason Motte. They have the winning ways. They're older, and they've been through the good times and the bad times as well. We're going to rely on our older guys to show us the way.”
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