Former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon clearly isn’t a fan of Marcus Stroman’s celebratory dance moves on the mound, and 670 The Score host Dan Bernstein can’t believe what a stick in the mud Maddon has become.
Maddon was asked about the celebration recently on MLB Network, and he said it was brutal and that he really didn’t want anyone watching that kind of behavior.
Bernstein on Tuesday questioned if this is the real Joe Maddon now.
“Come on, Joe. He’s going full baseball police on us?” he said. “Hardcore, sirens blaring, Bud Norris baseball police.”
Co-host Laurence Holmes countered that by saying Maddon has always championed making sure the game is played in the right way. He used Atlanta Braves outfielder Marcel Ozuna and Chicago White Sox infielder Tim Anderson being benched for celebrations and not running as examples in which Maddon would take issue. But Bernstein said those two examples don’t equate to the situation with Stroman.
“That’s different. Hustle is different,” Bernstein said. “Marcel Ozuna – different. Tim Anderson – different. Hustle is different.”
Holmes said the mindset for Maddon has always been about control.
“I think that’s where a lot of this comes from with Joe,” he said. “I also think that you’re seeing the trappings of authoritarianism. Where when Joe talks about the way that a clubhouse should be, and who should be in charge of the clubhouse, he should be in charge of the clubhouse.”
Bernstein just pointed out that Maddon never use to be such a stickler. He wondered what happened to “Hippie Joe.”
“It’s getting weird,” Bernstein said.
