It’s official. The Cubs have a new manager. His full name is Gregory Mike Quade and he’s 53 years old. He goes by Mike, and the players call him Q (as I found out in an interview with Sam Fuld toward the end of the season). Quade was introduced, or re-introduced, yesterday to the press. You will recall that Quade was named manager of the Cubs on August 22 when Lou Piniella made it known that the 22nd would be his last day as Cubs manager. Should that have been the tipoff that Quade was going to be the manager for the next two years? No one can say for sure, but Jim Hendry pointed out in yesterday’s press conference that Quade was never “interim manager” always manager.
Speculation had been intense, especially the last week or so, that the Cubs would be naming their new manager before the World Series. The names most mentioned were Quade, Ryne Sandberg and Joe Girardi. Just a few days ago I wrote about these three men and their chances to be named manager. While I did say that it would be a slap in the face to Ryno if he wasn’t named manager, and it was, after yesterday’s press conference I am confident that the Cubs made the right decision.
Let’s start with some basic facts about “Q.” Cubs Owner and Chairman Tom Ricketts made it clear he wanted his new manager to understand the unique pressures of being Cubs manager. Certainly Ryno and Girardi both understood the Cubs Culture as players. Girardi also as a fan, being from the area. But perhaps Quade understands it a bit better. He has not only been with the club for eight years, but he is a Chicago area native hailing from Evanston and graduating from Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, IL. His tenure with the club, especially the past four years, gave him a different perspective from the one he had as a youngster going to Cubs games as a fan. Q understands the pressures, anticipation and longing for a Cubs World Series from both perspectives. Even Lou, when he was leaving the Cubs, said he didn’t quite understand what he was getting into. He seemed totally unprepared for the reality of being Cubs manager and it showed in his managing style and his post-game interviews.
Quade, who became the 51st manager in Cubs history on August 23 (the day after Piniella’s last game), was the Cubs third base coach for four years prior to his August promotion. According to a Cubs press release, he has 17 years and 2,378 games of experience as a manager at the minor league level. He has been a major league coach in the American and National Leagues, including three seasons with the Oakland A’s as first base coach from 2000-2002, and the four years as the Cubs’ third base coach. According to the release:
Quade has more than 25 years of pro coaching and managing experience, including a pair of minor league manager of the year awards with Double-A Harrisburg in 1991 and Triple-A Ottawa in 1993. As a winter ball manager, Quade led Aguilas Cibaenas to the 1996-97 Dominican Winter League Championship and Caribbean World Series Title.
In 1999, Quade led Vancouver to the Pacific Coast League championship and won the Triple-A World Series. A year later, Quade received his first major league coaching opportunity with Oakland.
Quade has served as a manager in the Montreal, Philadelphia, Oakland and Cubs farm systems. He was originally selected by the Pirates in the 22ndround of the 1979 draft (out of the University of New Orleans) and spent four seasons as an outfielder in Pittsburgh’s minor league system before retiring and entering the coaching ranks. He received his first managerial position in 1985 with Single-A Macon.
That’s a lot of places. During the press conference Quade mentioned that he had received a text from a friend that said, “It’s a long way from Macon.”
So, how did Hendry decide on Quade and when? Hendry made it very clear that the process was very involved. He looked at all his options. He said he spoke with Quade when he was named manager in August and told him he was a candidate for the job. But he did his interviewing, paring the list to three finalists. The finalists met with Ricketts individually, and then each had dinner with all the Ricketts siblings, said Ricketts.
“The candidates had dinner with my family, with my brothers and sister, so everybody got to know everybody,” Ricketts told me.
In the end, Ricketts told the group the decision was up to Hendry. The decision was made last Friday.
“It’s absolutely the right thing to do,” Ricketts told me. Obviously he was a Cub fan his whole life. Eight years in the organization, four years sitting next to Lou. He knows what it’s like.”
When I asked Ricketts about Ryno, I was told that wasn’t in his realm. It’s up to Hendry. Naturally, Sandberg was disappointed and wished Quade and the Cubs well. Reports this morning say that Hendry has told Sandberg he is welcome to stay at Iowa.
As for Quade, he told the press, “I never presumed anything. I didn’t lose sleep at night.”
And when he got the phone call? He had just come back from a rare Sunday fishing expedition, looking for blue crabs. He had started to clean the crabs when his phone rang and he saw it was Hendry. He had to make a decision – “Who gets these crabs and how quickly can I pack this suit,” Quade said.
Quade's record after his six weeks as manager was 24-13. But as Quade kept saying yesterday, "Six weeks doesn't make six months."
Quade has a lot of work ahead of him but he knows the club and players are behind him. Even Ryan Dempster, who attended yesterday's press conference, openly endorsed Quade as next manager. The players respect and even like Quade. And his philosophy of having fun while still playing to win should take him far.
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