CINCINNATI _ The awkward phase of the Cubs' season was about to end, and manager Joe Maddon already had declared it a complete success.
Clinching early gave Maddon a chance to rest players and make in-game decisions he otherwise would not have entertained, knowing the games were relatively meaningless now that their ticket to October had been punched.
But unexpected grumbling from Jake Arrieta and Miguel Montero over the plan to treat the post-clinching games as a glorified version of spring training had not gone over well with Maddon, who pointed to the Cubs' record during that stretch as evidence they had made the right call.
"For me, mission accomplished this last week or 10 days," Maddon said in his bare-bones office at the mis-named Great American Ball Park.
It was the night before the final game of the best regular season the Cubs had experienced in eight decades, and Maddon was in a pensive mood. He planned to spend the night watching some of the games with wild-card implications on his iPad, confident in his belief the Cubs were ready for anything.
Was it just a matter of flipping a switch?
"No, I think you're just ready," he said. "The momentum of the day, the adrenaline of the day just takes you to that level. You just have to be focused on every pitch, which you try to be all year, but you're definitely there at (the postseason)."
The Cubs had gone 8-3 since Maddon instituted Spring Training 2.0 rules Sept. 19, with one game resulting in a rain-shortened tie against the Pirates, even though everyone knows there is no tying in baseball.
Record aside, the Cubs were anxious to get back to playing meaningful games again, and you could see the nonchalant demeanor in the faces of the players, the coaches and even the writers chronicling their season.
"Of course," Maddon said. "With the players, you have to create your own little adrenaline. The writers, I'm sure right now, are looking for a story, just like our guys have to create their own story for these last several games. And I've been happy with it."
Maddon joked that even the tie in Pittsburgh had some value, referring to NHL rules that awarded teams one point for ties.
"You never know when that's going to come in handy," he said.
