(670 The Score) How do baseball lifers deal with their downtime when a season is halted due to a pandemic?
In the case of Angels manager Joe Maddon, it means transforming into a "creative mode" and doing a lot more of what he only gets a little bit of time to focus on amid the chaos of a season.
"I am staying physically engaged and reading a lot," Maddon said of his routine on Inside the Clubhouse on 670 The Score on Saturday morning. "I am also writing in a creative way as well. I am enjoying it, I really am. Normally in offseasons, you as a baseball person are tired. This off time is occurring where I really have some energy. Right now, coming out of spring training having had some rest in the offseason, this is the second offseason. So when things start again, we will be ready to go and be eager."
Maddon, 66, was named the Angels' new manager in October after leading the Cubs for the previous five seasons. His family is healthy and doing well amid the coronavirus outbreak, he said. With that comfort and time on his hands, Maddon has been focusing on using his time productively. He goes on an hour-long daily bike ride, which sometimes includes producing content for the Angels' social media channels.
"I did a bike ride through with the GoPro on," he said. "I am just trying to provide content and keep people connected. We want to keep folks connected to us, so when we fire this back up, we want to just jump back into it. I talked to my coaches and you guys (the media) saying we can't have an on/off switch. We just need a dimmer switch. My thought is to turn it back, but don't turn it off."
Maddon enjoys reading but has admitted previously that he goes through slumps in that department during the season. So he has appreciated digging into some classics now.
"I am reading Travels with Charley," he said of a John Steinbeck title. "I was doing a gig in southern California at the Orange County Rescue Mission. A young man came up to me and said that my RV reminded him of the book Travels with Charley. It's about Steinbeck traveling through the U.S. in his own makeshift RV. He started to explain it to me, and I said that's great, I am going to buy it. Two minutes later, he came back and gave me the book. I did not realize what a great writer Steinbeck was. I really love his method of prose, and I really got into it. So I am there, and I am all over the place writing my thoughts."
Maddon's days often begin at 6 a.m. He likes to get his creative juices flowing -- to the extent that he'll also vocalize his thoughts while on his bike rides so he can record them.
"I am trying to structure and analyze my thoughts," Maddon said. "I have not been into this type of creative mode since the 1980s and put together some organizational methods for what the Angels system should look like. I can do this because I have energy and time at the same time. I am having fun with it."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
