- Credibility:
WRIGLEYVILLE — Former baseball skipper Joe Maddon — who led the Cubs to the 2016 championship that broke a 108-year drought — is sharing his musings on that season in a new memoir.
“The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball & Life” will be released Tuesday, according to a news release. It’s co-authored by Maddon and sportswriter Tom Verducci, who also wrote a book about the 2016 Cubs.
Maddon plans to return to the Chicago area for a book signing and meet-and-greet with fans 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at Anderson’s Bookshop, 5112 Main St., in suburban Downers Grove, said a spokesperson with his publisher. The book is now available for pre-order across online booksellers.
It’s partly a recount of Maddon’s nearly half-century in baseball and part-scripture of his philosophies on coaching and leadership, according to the news release.
Maddon — known for his thick-framed glasses and zen aura — made up his own mantras, such as “Do simple better” and “Try not to suck.”
The book will also detail “why the honeymoon with the Cubs did not last, and what it’s like to manage the modern player, including stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Yu Darvish and Kris Bryant,” according to the news release.
Maddon is credited for two of the most memorable turnarounds in recent baseball history: taking the Tampa Bay Rays from the worst record in baseball to the World Series the next year in 2008 and helping the Cubs break the “Curse of the Billy Goat” in 2016.
Maddon, who last coached the Cubs in 2019 and was fired by the Los Angeles Angels in June, has not ruled out a return to the dugout, saying in August he would be open to an “absolutely correct” situation to manage again.
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