Fangio has friend in Cubs manager
At the first mention of the name, Joe Maddon’s eyes light up from the visiting dugout at Coors Field, and the Cubs’ manager has a quick story he would like to tell about Broncos coach Vic Fangio. These are two gray-haired guys who grew up about 30 miles apart in northeast Pennsylvania. Take it away, Joe.
“Last Christmas, I drove from Hazleton to right outside of Dunmore to pick up my honeybaked ham,” Maddon recalled. “And on the way back, I stopped at Schautz Stadium, which was right down the street from where (Fangio) grew up, and that’s where I played for the Scranton Red Sox. It was under some kind of construction, so I texted him a photograph of the ballpark.”
Fangio’s text back?
“You should go to my buddy’s place! It’s right down the street and he makes the best meatballs in Scranton!”
Maddon laughed.
“Vic is awesome,” he said. “He’s authentic. He’s real, man. He’s absolutely real.”
Maddon and Fangio share common roots and a love for sports, but they didn’t become friends until Fangio got the defensive coordinator job with the Bears in 2015. Fangio, still a die-hard Phillies fan, was a regular at Wrigley Field and joked with local media he deserved some credit for Chicago’s 2016 World Series title. And when the Nationals hired away Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez in 2017, a darkhorse replacement candidate emerged. You guessed it.
“(Fangio) wanted it to be known immediately that he was all for becoming my bench coach,” Maddon said and then smirked. “That would have been highly interesting. The physicality in the game would increase.”
Maddon texted Fangio upon arrival in Denver this week, but the Broncos’ coach was out of town. Bummer. Maddon said the pair is not that close, but added “we’re definitely in touch and we consider each other friends. We’ll probably get to know each other better.”
Maddon doesn’t pretend to be a football expert, either. But he witnessed the Bears’ defensive renaissance under Fangio’s watch and understood his burning desire to become an NFL head coach. Plus, one more thought: If Fangio’s football acumen is anything close to his food knowledge, then Maddon ought to stop for some meatballs the next time he’s around Fangio’s old stomping grounds. They both call it home.
“You’re going to get a guy here that knows the game,” Maddon said. “It’s not going to be sugar-coated. I think it’s wonderful. I don’t know Mr. Elway and I don’t know all that stuff, but if he’s into analytics at all, it’s going to be a nice cross between analytics and the heartbeat. I think this guy (Fangio) is all about the heartbeat.
“I wish him well, and he’s going to do a great job here.”