Joe Maddon shifted my view of just how much I can like a manager. It’s not that I hadn’t liked Cubs managers before, I certainly had. Lou Piniella, for all of his faults, probably earned significantly more of my adoration than he deserved. But those faults sure were there, culminating in a seemingly disinterested Sweet Lou stepping down in the middle of the 2010 season. Looking back, I’m not so sure I’d like him as much these days as I once did.
Dusty Baker was someone I once thought of favorably as well, but consistent unforgivable personnel decisions soured that relationship pretty quickly.