Chicago Cubs acing chemistry class
When athletes or coaches on a 94-54 baseball team, a 15-1 football team, a 72-10 basketball team or a 36-7-5 hockey team talk about having great chemistry, we media folks can become a bit skeptical.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that winning naturally fosters good feelings and helps friendships blossom and grow.
Such is the case with the 2016 Chicago Cubs, who are an astounding 40 games over .500 and steamrolling toward the playoffs. These guys all seem to get along, and that was clearly evident Friday when they celebrated a division title in a champagne-soaked locker room.
But is good chemistry away from the field really all that important and a major reason for all of this success?
Manager Joe Maddon says absolutely, positively, no doubt about it.
"Yeah, it's easy to say that … it's a lovefest because we've won so many games," Maddon said. "Possibly at this point it has turned into that.
"But (when) we got here last year it was coming off a season that they'd lost a lot of games and we turned it around. Now this year it's gotten even better."
Why, exactly?
Well, Maddon said it's all the little things that add up … all the things that aren't obvious to fans in the seats or those watching on TV.
Since Day One, Maddon has preached the importance of building relationships among not just the players but with everyone in the organization.
These Cubs have taken that advice to heart by golfing together, going to football games and checking out museums, landmarks and monuments while on the road. A group recently went to a casino in St. Louis, and some guys have been known to sing a bit of karaoke in a bar or at someone's residence.
The best singers, according to Jason Heyward, are David Ross and Travis Wood.
"I like Rossy, but he loses his voice sometimes," said Heyward, who emphasized that he does NOT sing. "Woody's pretty good, too."
Said first baseman Anthony Rizzo: "It's such a tight group of guys. Guys are going to each other's house for dinner; we're going out together. A lot of the wives and girlfriends are close, the families are close.
"That's the best thing about this. That starts with (Tom) Ricketts and Theo (Epstein) putting (emphasis) on family first."
Once a solid foundation is build, Maddon says, trust follows and it becomes much easier to root for your teammates.
Maddon has butted heads with "baseball people" all the way back to the mid-1980s on this whole chemistry debate.
Some simply don't believe it is necessary to create a consistent winner.
That's cool, said Joe. Let them have that opinion.
"To the group that are nonbelievers, please continue to be nonbelievers. I'm very happy with that," he said.
Heyward, in his first season in Chicago, said this group bonded so well because so many of the veterans played together or crossed paths before, and the young group came up through the minors together.
Said Jon Lester: "Everybody wants each other to do well. Everybody pushes each other. It's a lot of fun to be a part of. …
"Guys give a (bleep). That's my thing - guy's care. At the end of the day, you can make up for mistakes, you can make up for a lack of talent. You can make up for a lot of things when guys care.
"And from top to bottom, everybody in that dugout, everybody in that front office, cares."