Joe Maddon is the kind of self-promoter and free-association thinker who can use a West Wing media stakeout to plug his restaurant in Tampa, Fla. The Cubs manager name-dropped Ava after President Barack Obama's final official White House event honoring the World Series champs.
Maddon isn't quite Pat Riley, who filed for a "Three-Peat" trademark as coach of the "Showtime" era Los Angeles Lakers and kept cashing in while running the Miami Heat. But Maddon does have a few ideas about marketing and messaging, whether or not this becomes a ubiquitous T-shirt in the clubhouse.
"If we catch the ball and pitch the ball like we did last year," Maddon said, "we shall 'De-peat.