Cubs Manager Believes Growing Facial Hair Will Break The Curse
By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Aug 11, 2015 4:40PM
Left: Joe Maddon on Opening Night game on April 5, 2015 in Chicago. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) Right: Joe Maddon on July 17, 2015 in Atlanta. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
Cubs manager Joe Maddon has a new secret weapon: It's not young talent, sabermetrics or a goodwill round of shots for the press corps, but facial hair.
The former Tampa Bay Rays manager seems to be settling into his role as manager of a team that hasn't won a World Series for over a century. The fan base here is intense and the weather unpredictable compared to Florida, but in some ways he seems unfazed by the challenge. He told the Tampa Bay Times, "Once you get the hang of how all this works, it's no biggie. It's baseball, man. It's baseball."
But Maddon is looking for an edge. He says he heard someone talk about how all the recent, great coaches and managers in Chicago from Mike Ditka on had mustaches.
"So since facial hair is the key, I thought I would take it the next level," he said. It's coming in a little patchy so far, but he's undaunted. "I'm trying. I've always been challenged. But I'm not giving up on it."
Should he be a part of the team to actually break the century-long drought, he does realize what that would mean to the fan base and to the city: "Crazy is not a strong enough word. It'll be that 100 times over."
In the meantime, here's a little hairspiration from Maddon's facial hair and local sports idols: