CHICAGO -- After the Cubs beat the Mets, 10-7, last week at Citi Field, reporters crammed into the small office reserved for the visiting manager.
Sitting on a couch in the back of the room, as he often does after games, was Cubs President Theo Epstein.
Manager Joe Maddon was giddy about the win, despite watching Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs bullpen inexplicably turn an early nine-run lead into a nail-biter.
"We were awesome the first three innings," Maddon said with a grin.
The media crew laughed, then left after a few minutes to talk to players, leaving the manager and his boss free to talk alone.
The two have come a long way from that October day in Florida nearly five years ago, when Maddon, Epstein and General Manger Jed Hoyer sat in folding chairs on a beach outside an RV named "Cousin Eddie," drinking light beer and discussing the managerial job then held by Rick Renteria.
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and it has all gone by so quickly.
No one knows if Maddon is entering the final weeks of his Cubs career, or what exactly it will take for Epstein to extend him for a few more years, as Maddon seems confident will happen.
But the fact Maddon is even in this position -- despite having the highest winning percentage (.588) of any Cubs manager in more than 100 years and being the only person to manage a championship team on the North Side since the invention of the radio -- suggests there's something Epstein sees in Maddon that makes him pause.
There is no animosity evident.
Maddon praises the "boys" in the front office regularly, even as recently as Sunday when he complimented Epstein, Hoyer and Chairman Tom Ricketts for giving Ben Zobrist a four-month leave to deal with his family issues.
"That's what I appreciate about working here," Maddon said.
He accepted Epstein's "millennial mandate," giving in to the players' request to know if they're in the lineup three days in advance, and he has been more hands-on coaching than in the past.
Epstein knew the lack of a contract in 2019 would lead to media speculation that would only increase as the end neared, and that's exactly what has happened. In New York, where Maddon would seem to fit in perfectly if Mets Manager Mickey Callaway gets fired for Tuesday's epic collapse, Epstein reiterated the Cubs are sticking with the game plan they announced last November.
"He's done a great job of not letting it be a distraction, not being an issue," Epstein said.
While Maddon has his critics, his popularity remains high in Chicago, and Epstein might need a "soft landing" candidate if he decides to go in new direction -- hiring someone Cubs fans already know and trust. Or he could go in the opposite direction and bring in an "anti-Joe," a non-celebrity manager whose name no one would've guessed.
When Epstein announced last November at the GM meetings in Carlsbad, Calif., there would be no extension talks until after the 2019 season, he tried to spin it into a positive.
"Look, to me the story is I'm excited about Joe being all in on 2019 and being right in the middle of everything going on with the team -- deepening his relationship with players and being incredibly committed as he is to getting the most out of these guys," Epstein said. "He's sort of renewed and rejuvenated and ready to attack the season and we're all there to support him and do the same. I'm really excited about that.
"When I say we're not giving him a contract this winter, it's not punitive at all. And it's not a foreshadowing of changing managers per se, either. It's just a decision we've made. The focus is on all of us, doing what we can to get the most out of 2019 and evaluating from there."
There's still time to get the most out of 2019, but the finish line is creeping up.
Sports on 09/05/2019