“We need people to pass the game down”: Former Angels manager Joe Maddon cracks modern baseball, quips "individuality" has taken over "team concept"
Former LA Angels manager Joe Maddon gave a no-filter take on modern baseball as he shared his views on the evolution of the game on "The Foul Territory." A lot has changed since baseball started, and, in the last few years, the game has seen external factors like payroll, analytical stuff and "individuality" affecting the game significantly.
Maddon believes the reason for that can be attributed to the fact that the game hasn't passed down properly through generations.
"I think part of the problem is that the game's not being passed down from generation to generation right now by former players or former coaches, guys that have been there, done that, guys that are proven great instructors, teachers.
"A lot of the coaches these days are coming from places, a driveline and things of that nature," Maddon said.
Maddon said that if he starts a team tomorrow, he will definitely have "Larry Bowe" despite his age.
"We need people to pass the game down, to have it played properly," Maddon added. "Guys have to be told when they're screwing up, doing things wrong ... Listen, you could have sloppy play with the best instructors in the world, I'm not arguing that.
"But the game has evolved into the point where everybody's after their own brand and a show me kind of a thing, as opposed to playing this team concept."
Joe Maddon ready for another managerial stint but has reservations
In anther interaction, on being asked if he wants another crack being a manager in the majors, Joe Maddon replied in the affirmative but with a condition.
"I'd say I would, yes, but it really has to be like thread in the needle," Maddon said on MLB Network Radio.
"I don't know where that owner is or where that GM is in today's world game that really would want my sensibilities, my methods, possibly. If they do, I'm in. They'd get 1,000% of me as always, but I don't know. I don't know if that exists."
Joe Maddon has been in the league since 1996 when he first started as a coach for the Angels in 1994.
Thereafter, he served as a manager for the club in 1996 and 1999 before moving on to Tampa Bay (2006-14). With the Cubs, he won the World Series in 2016. He last managed the Anaheim club in his second stint in 2022.