Joe Maddon has had a pretty successful baseball career. But if he had to do it all over again, he'd make one change.
He would have served in the United States military.
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As the country celebrated Memorial Day on Monday, the Cubs manager said not following in the footsteps of family members is the one regret he has in life.
"As I was driving in today, I was listening to Sirius Radio and intermittently they would play 'Taps' as a tribute," Maddon told reporters before Monday's game against the Dodgers at Wrigley Field. "My dad served, my uncles served. My grandparents said they had four or five serving at the same time during World War II. It's kind of nuts to think about. The fact that they did that, we're all very fortunate.
"Driving down Clark Street today and watching everybody have a good time because people did this before us. The one regret I have in my own personal life is the fact that I never did serve. At the time, it was pretty unpopular. The Vietnam War was going on and I was in college. At the time, you thought you were very fortunate to not have to do that. But retrospectively, that'd be the one life experience that I missed out on."
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Maddon graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania in 1976 and played four years in the Angels' minor league system before getting into coaching. He spent 31 years with the Angels, serving as interim manager in 1996, 1998 and 1999. He got his first managerial position with the Rays in 2006 and led Tampa Bay until 2014, taking them to the World Series in 2008 and twice being named MLB manager of the year. He received the award again last season, leading the Cubs to the National League Championship Series.
The Cubs (34-14) are 20 games over .500 on Memorial Day for the first time since 1907 — when the Cubs won the first of consecutive World Series championships. The Cubs haven't won it all since, so bringing a World Series championship could make Maddon a national hero — in a completely different manner than those remembered Monday.