Fountaindale Public Library

The book of Joe, trying not to suck at baseball and life, Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci

eng

autobiography

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

The book of Joe

1334107856

Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci

trying not to suck at baseball and life

No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the "shot and beer" town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago and Anaheim has become one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years. Like his teams, Maddon defies convention. He is part strategist, part philosopher, part sports psychologist and part motivational coach. In this book, Maddon gives readers unique insights into the game, including the tension between art and data, the changing role of managers as front offices gain power, 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. Built on old school values and new school methods, Maddon's wisdom applies beyond the dugout. His mantras about leadership, mentorship, team building, and communication are meditations on life, not just baseball, including: "Do simple better." "Try not to suck." "Don't ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure." "See it with first time eyes." "Tell me what you think, not what you heard." This book is Maddon at his uniquely holistic best. It is a memoir of a fascinating baseball journey, an insider's look at a changing game, and a guidebook on leadership and life

adult