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Chicago Cubs' Maddon gets creative again

With this week being the 46th anniversary of Cubs pitcher Ken Holtzman's no-hitter, many old-time fans remember how the Chicago Cubs wilted down the stretch in 1969.

Current manager Joe Maddon is no Leo Durocher in a lot of ways, and he's trying to do what he can to keep his Cubs fresh for the 2015 stretch drive.

On Thursday, the clubhouse was locked to players until 3 p.m. There was no batting practice, and there won't be for the rest of the homestand, which ends Monday.

Being the creative sort he is, Maddon tied the approach to something grass-roots: American Legion ball.

Terming these few days "American Legion Week," Maddon had the banner of Billy Caldwell Post 806 hanging in the clubhouse, and he brought a flag of that post into the pregame session with the media.

It was his way, he said, of paying "tribute to playing baseball the old-fashioned way as well as to our veterans."

In other words, American Legion ballplayers get to the field an hour or so before the game and just play.

"We got off to a nice start in August; I want to keep it rolling," Maddon said. "There are certain things you do in this game that I think are overrated, and I think batting practice is one of them, swinging way too much.

"If they need to get loose, they can go get loose down in the cage a little bit. They don't need to swing on the field. Groundballs? They've taken a ton of those.

"I'd much prefer a fresh mind and body right now, playing these next five games at home.

"It's been pretty successful in the past."

End to the awkwardness:

Friday's and Saturday's games will be the last to start at 3:05 p.m. this season. The business side of the Cubs likes the late-afternoon starts, but rare is the baseball person who agrees.

The 3:05 p.m. starts disrupt players' normal routines, and the late-afternoon shadows bother hitters and right fielders at Wrigley Field.

Joe Maddon has some pull in the organization, and there might be a chance he can use it to get rid of the 3:05 starts.

"I definitely had that talk with the guys upstairs," he said. "It's awkward (the 3:05 starts). I'm not going to deny it's awkward. You get used to playing at 1 or 6 or 7. That in-between time, it's kind of awkward to get here and sit around and go play a game at 6 o'clock.

"Hopefully that's something we can work our way through. 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."

Taking one for the team:

Reliever James Russell had to "wear" one for the team as he went 1⅔ innings Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers. Russell threw 45 pitches and gave up 6 hits and 5 runs.

Joe Maddon brought outfielder Chris Denorfia in to pitch, and Denorfia got a groundout in his first professional pitching appearance to end the ninth inning.

"I really respect that," Maddon said of what Russell did in helping to preserve the bullpen. "It's not easy to to that. I hope the fans would appreciate that, too. It's a difficult role. Sometimes you go out there and the other team is just all over everything you're doing. It happens.

"Another pitcher in that game would have been upsetting for today. Sometimes a guy just wears it like that. Once he got the two outs, I thought it would be kind of entertaining to get Deno in there.

"He got us two outs into the ninth, which is great. I have a lot of respect for James. He's done such a good job for us this year. Yesterday was a tough day for him."

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