Maddon brings flamingo into Cubs clubhouse

Is Wrigley Field a major-league baseball stadium or a concert venue?

The 101-year old institution has been used as both in recent years, and Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon seemingly was not happy about the latter function after Monday night's victory over the Brewers.

Starlin Castro had a big night at the plate against Milwaukee in the series opener, but Maddon focused on the second baseman's fielding error in the third inning.

AC/DC played at Wrigley a week earlier.

"I've seen a bad hop at third, a bad hop at second," Maddon said. "Prior to that, I've not seen one bad hop all year. Since the AC/DC concert, we've had a little bit of trouble. I don't know if they were out there taking groundballs before the game or they had like nine-inch heels or spikes. But they have totally messed up our infield."

On Tuesday, Maddon backed way off.

"I was flippant," he said. "I have no problem with the concerts whatsoever. I'm a big music fan. You're looking for all kinds of events all the time. The citizenry really enjoys this stuff, and I'm all about that. This particular area is so vibrant, why wouldn't you do it here, with that marquee and the name on the marquee?

"I think it's great. It's absolutely awesome. I would never want to get in the way of that."

Animal house:

When manager Joe Maddon showed up for his usual pregame news conference Tuesday, he brought a friend.

Warren, a Chilean flamingo, poked around the interview room while Maddon fielded questions.

"I'm a big pink flamingo fan," the Cubs' manager said. "Back in California we had two. I think they're one of the coolest things out there. My goal in life is to own a bar named The Pink Flamingo. That's when I know I will have made it."

With help from the Columbus Zoo and Shedd Aquarium, a pair of snow leopard cubs, penguin, sloth, armadillo and civet also were present Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

"We found out the Columbus Zoo did this kind of stuff," Maddon said. "It just came together perfectly on this particular day. Great weather outside, most of the kids showed up with their particular families.

"The conservation part of all of this, you don't even realize the snow leopards, there are 2,000 left in the world. You get to hold this magnificent creature out there … all the times you'd be watching TV or reading about it in newspapers, but when you have a connection, all of a sudden, it makes sense."

Take a break:

Addison Russell was held out of the starting lineup Tuesday night, with Javier Baez getting the start at shortstop.

Russell came on in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement, and Baez moved to second base.

"I'm just trying to keep (Russell) fresh," Joe Maddon said. "Trying to keep Javy fresh, Addison fresh. I don't discount the fact that a lot of these young guys are playing deeply into September.

"We're hoping play deeply into October, so I want to keep an eye on it."