May 06--Cubs manager Joe Maddon likens Ben Zobrist to a virus. The best possible kind.
His winning attitude is infectious.
"You see it. You're all around him," Maddon told reporters before Friday's 1:20 p.m. game against the Nationals. "Everybody else sees it, too, especially the young guys. So there's a residual positive impact just from being around him.
"It is hard to quantify. He is this thing that spreads -- almost like a good virus."
Zobrist has 20 RBIs, second to Anthony Rizzo's 27. He has gone deep and driven in the winning run two straight games.
"It's a good sign," Zobrist said after Thursday's 5-2 victory. "It takes me a while sometimes to get the feel."
Zobrist has always cared more about winning then stats. From 2006-08 he shuttled back and forth between the Devil Rays and the Triple-A Durham Bulls.
"Every time we had to send him down, I'd pop him into my office and say: 'Look, you're going to be a big-league player,'" Maddon recalled. "He was always fine. He would say: 'There's something special going on here.' All he cared about was winning. That's what he would say as he was going out the door before he was established as a major-league player.
"Since the beginning he has been a Stage 5 guy -- all he wanted to do was win and he knew everything else would take care of itself. When you get guys who understand that concept, they contribute to winning moments."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
