Cubs' Maddon will face off against one of game's best in Bochy

With Joe Maddon in the dugout the past two season, the Chicago Cubs always seem to have the edge in the manager department.

That's going to change in the National League division series.

Leading the Cubs to the playoffs last year, Maddon matched wits against the Pirates' Clint Hurdle in the wild-card game, the Cardinals' Mike Matheny in the National League division series and the Mets' Terry Collins in the NL championship series.

In this year's NLDS, Maddon already knows what he's up against in Giants counterpart Bruce Bochy.

"I honestly don't think it's like any other night, I really don't," Maddon said of managing against Bochy.

"You just have to try to figure out what you want to do primarily and just know that they're going to have a lot of bullpen availability and that he (Bochy) is going to be on top of all that.

"The situations like this, a lot of times it's the reverse kind of guys that can be beneficial.

In other words, the righty that's better against a left hitter, the lefty hits better against the righty. You have to recognize those moments, but just know he's a cowboy and he'll do anything. When you're managing against a cowboy it's always interesting."

Bochy is in his 10th season with the Giants and he's one of only 10 managers in history to win three World Series titles. The other nine are in the Hall of Fame.

Like most premier managers, Bochy never looks for personal praise.

"It comes down to the players, that's how this will be determined," he said. "The pitching, the timely hitting and all that. It will come down to that.

"I think sometimes too much can be made of what we're doing as managers. It's going to be really up to the players to go out there and play well."

With that being said, Bochy is excited to be competing against Maddon.

"I think that as managers we look forward to managing against guys that we know do such a great job and will be so well prepared," Bochy said.

"It makes you stay on your toes and make sure that you're ready and you're prepared. Especially going against such a good club and (Maddon) has got a lot of weapons over there.

"It's up to me to have these guys ready and of course have my moves ready."