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The 2016 Chicago Cubs will forever be the team that ended the 108-year curse. The players on that team will always be remembered, but so should the coaches. We all remember Joe Maddon, the manager who led the way (and made us question if we needed blood pressure medicine). But a couple of guys on his support staff have succeeded since winning it all in Chicago.
Dave Martinez was the bench coach on Joe Maddon’s staff from 2008 to 2017 in Tampa Bay and Chicago. After winning it all in 2016 and returning to the NLCS in 2017, he took the job in Washington, DC, to become the Nationals manager. After just missing the playoffs in 2018, he took a Wild Card team in 2019 all the way to the World Series and won it.
That’s two managerial World Series to come out of the 2016 staff, and more might be on the way. Former Cubs first base and bench coach Brandon Hyde is well on his way to one in his gig as Manager of the Baltimore Orioles.
Brandon Hyde Is Taking Baltimore To New Heights
During his time with the Cubs, Brandon Hyde served under managers Dale Sveum, Rick Renteria, and Joe Maddon. He saw this team go from 90-plus losses to champions in a matter of three years. In 2019, he accepted the managerial position for the Baltimore Orioles. Hyde took the job knowing he needed patience and trust in the organization as it built its way back into contention.
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Hyde’s first three seasons went about as expected: not great. 2019 and 2021 both saw 100 losses and torture. But things started to turn as young talent began to make its way through the rejuvenated pipeline. In 2022, he led the Orioles to their first winning season since 2016. That year was just the beginning of what is still forming under Hyde’s leadership.
In 2023, the Orioles won 100 games and earned the top seed in the American League. Hyde led the team from 100 losses to 100 wins in just two seasons. They lost last year in the playoffs but are primed to make another run at their first World Series championship since 1983.
Hyde has proven to be precisely what the organization was looking for to lead this core of young players into competition. Almost the entire Orioles’ lineup is made of home-grown talent. They’re the youngest team in the league but might be the hungriest at the same time. Hyde had a lot to do with their recent success, and his success started right here in Chicago.
