9/21 Quade: “I’m going to be back”
Could Wednesday be Mike Quade’s last home game as the Cubs manager? It could depend on what the new general manager wants to do. Quade said he hasn’t thought about it.
“Why would I? We’re going to play today and I’m going to be back,” he said. “That’s he way I look at things. There’s no other way to look at it. Why would I look at it any other way?”
So the change in GM doesn’t affect him?
“There’s nothing I can do about that,” he said. “That’s the way i look at things. I’m not going to wax nostalgic thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what now?’ I plan to be back and I plan to do a good job next year.”
He has not talked to Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts about the future. The Cubs still have six games to play in St. Louis and San Diego, and Quade is focused on that.
“If they make a decision in a different direction, so be it,” Quade said. “The question is what do I think? That’s what I think.”
Asked how he would grade himself as manager, Quade said he was “disappointed in the record.”
“I’m not disappointed in myself at all,” he said. “We didn’t pitch as well as I’d hoped. I think our offense ends up being about what we thought. As I said numerous times, the game boils down to pitching and when we struggle with starters, it’s tough to overcome.”
Quade does have a contract for 2012 but said he doesn’t feel at ease because of that.
“I like doing this and I think I’m good at doing it and that’s the way I look at things,” he said. “Whether I had a one-year deal or a two-year deal or a five year deal, that’s the way I feel.”
He’s hoping he’ll get a chance to convince the new GM that he deserves to stay.
“There’s so much speculation and nothing I can control,” Quade said. “There’s absolutely no reason for me to concern myself with anything but finishing as best we can and waiting to see what takes place.”
It isn’t just Quade who is on the hot seat. The Cubs coaches also don’t know what’s ahead.
“I look at this as a variety of things and no one escapes blame and you understand that going in,” Quade said, “but I also look at it as a realist and try to think about the things I could or couldn’t control, whether it’s the clubhouse or running the game. I evaluate it all.
“You sit here and take the blame, that’s what you do.”
The Cubs will finish last in the National League in defense.
“One disappointment, if I had one, that would be it,” Quade said about the play on the field. “It wasn’t for lack of work on it or concentration or emphasis, from the beginning of Spring Training.”
Is the job tougher than he expected?
“This year was, just because we had so much to deal with,” Quade said. “The job with you guys, with running the club, no. Big market city, Major League baseball, it’s fine. We had a ton of stuff to deal with and then not having success. Not tougher, but it was a tough year. That’s the way I am. I think all of us will be better for it. I’m happy with the way we’re finishing.”
– Carrie Muskat
