ST. LOUIS — Joe Maddon sure likes to whine about stuff.
Two years ago, I wrote a piece with the same title as the article on this page, after the Chicago Cubs manager attributed the slow start of his team to travel, late games, rainouts, global warming, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without the ends cut off, and a few other random trifles.
Remember, this was a Cubs team coming off a World Series win, and instead of perhaps the fog of extra baseball and a shortened offseason clogging their minds, it was the true terror of complicated spring baseball. Oh my, oh my.
Friday night, after the Cardinals defeated the Cubs 2-1 on a walk-off single from Matt Carpenter, Maddon was at it again. He was mad about the umpire's lack of a strike call on a 3-2 pitch to Harrison Bader in the ninth inning that (kind of) led to Carpenter's game-deciding hit.
"My boys are going to go home feeling bad tonight, and they shouldn't. It wasn't even a borderline call; it was a strike," Maddon told the media.
Cry me a river, pal. Major League umpires miss strike calls every game. It happens to every team in every game. All the Cubs pitcher had to do was throw another good pitch and guess what, he didn't. Whine, whine! The vigilante Cardinals are out to get us again, said Joe!
Look, I try to be better every day, and that includes resisting the urge to blame a loss on officials. Now, it's one thing when they miss a blatantly direct game-deciding hand pass in a hockey game, and quite another when a strike call doesn't go their way.
I haven't heard Mike Shildt complain about an umpire's strike and ball preciseness to the media after a game. He will do it in game, but won't have to drudge it up after the game. He knows several other factors go into losing a game. How about the double that the umpire took away from Paul Goldschmidt? Should pitchforks be pulled out after that miscall? Nope.
I get it. Maddon is feeling some pressure. After winning that World Series title, the Cubs have put up back-to-back 90+ win seasons, but have got little to show for it in the postseason. They were eliminated in 5 games in the National League Championship Series in 2017, and were beaten in the Wildcard game last year after finishing behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the division. Theo Epstein would feel little pressure in raising the temperature on Joe's seat, being that the manager lacks a contract extension after this year.
In reality, Maddon is managing for his job, and if he doesn't achieve a fair measure of postseason glory, could find himself elsewhere next season after five seasons. It could happen, and that can put extra pressure on a guy during games.
The Cubs are sitting in first place, but by no means have a stranglehold on the division. It's June 1, and no one is checking the standings before Independence Day. While it's early, Maddon and the Cubs feel pressure from both the Brewers and Cardinals, and it won't go away.
Milwaukee has a team that could run through the Central again, and John Mozeliak has to feel at least a little heat after missing the playoffs three seasons in a row, which sits close to egregious behavior in St. Louis. So, there's pressure all around, not just in Maddon's little world of zen.
Next time, just say your guys need to be better, and that includes not only the hitting with runners in scoring position, but pitching more efficiently. I don't think the umpire loaded the bases in the ninth. Last time I checked, pitchers do that. Be better, that's all.
Cubs fans will think I am taking an easy shot at Maddon, and that isn't true. If I wrote an article for every time he whined like a little kid who just had his Halloween candy stolen, I would be busy every week. This is the first column in two years on that subject. When it comes across my view, I tackle it.
What happens tonight? Will Maddon complain that the aggressiveness of nearby St. Louis Blues fans impeded his lovely bike ride through Forest Park. Will he shout about the construction on every highway in town? Did the cook not cook his toasted raviolis properly? It will be something, and I will laugh.
Maddon is 65 years old. It's about time you stop making excuses, pal.
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