Fenech: Young, surprising Cubs remind some of '06 Tigers

CHICAGO – Count the current Detroit Tigers manager as surprised.

Brad Ausmus, like many around baseball, thought the Cubs would arrive next year.

But after their influx of young talent arrived this year, shortly after old school-new school managing hybrid Joe Maddon came aboard in the off-season, here we are, in the middle of August, with the lovable-losing Cubbies standing in the National League's second wild-card spot.

And the Tigers will get an up close-and-personal look at the baseball renaissance on the north side in a two-game series this week at Wrigley Field.

"I think they probably have come a lot quicker than people expected," Ausmus said. "Probably even their own."

They've come quick and they've come with the confidence of Maddon, who assumed the challenge of a career when he took over the Cubs job before the season: winning the team's first World Series in 106 years, the longest championship drought of any major sports team in the country.

It's a different situation, former Tigers manager Jim Leyland said recently, but at the core of the Cubs' comeback story is Maddon, who has changed the culture of the clubhouse, much in the same way Leyland did with the 2006 Tigers.

"I think the biggest thing you have to do is you gotta get everybody on the same page," Leyland said. "Understand the importance of the team concept. His team is very talented. The team I took over was very talented. It's just a matter of getting everybody on the same page, to understand how good and talented they are."

And these Cubs are talented. Anthony Rizzo is a cornerstone first baseman. Rookie Kris Bryant is a cornerstone third baseman. Left-hander Jon Lester stabilized the starting rotation after signing a lucrative free-agent deal in the winter, and right-hander Jake Arrieta is the best pitcher in baseball that many don't know about.

The situations are different. These Cubs are young. Rizzo is 26. Bryant is 23. Addison Russell, who recently became the team's everyday shortstop, is 21. Those Tigers, led by Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordoñez and Kenny Rogers, were a veteran team sprinkled in with youngsters such as Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya.

In 2006, Tigers fans packed Wrigley Field and called it their home, with "Let's go Tigers!" chants during the three-game sweep in June, capped by Rogers' 200th victory.

"There were so many Tigers fans," Leyland said. "That was very unique."

This time around, the Detroiters will travel, but they won't drown out the legions of Cubs fans. This time, the roles have been reversed — with the Tigers on the outside looking in at the playoff race, and the Cubs in the thick of it — and it's due in large part because Maddon saw the talent in tow and knew it was time to take on the seemingly impossible task of leading the Cubs to the World Series.

"It's quite a change for him," Leyland said. "Tampa has a really good organization, but they don't have the history of the Cubs, so it was going to be different for him, going to a place hungry to win with the place packed every night."

The Tigers are the only team the Cubs have beat in the World Series. They did the deed in 1907 and 1908 and their last Fall Classic win came in Game 6 in 1945, before falling to the Tigers in seven games.

And this year, for the first time in many years, thanks in large part to Maddon steering the ship, the Cubs have a better chance to seize baseball's ultimate prize.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech .

On deck: Cubs

Series: Tigers at Chicago for two games, tonight and Wednesday.

TV/radio: Tonight, Wednesday — 8:05. Both games on Fox Sports Detroit; WXYT-AM (1270) and WXYT-FM (97.1). Wednesday's game also on ESPN.

Pitchers: Tonight — Tigers RH Anibal Sanchez (10-10, 4.95 ERA) vs. RH Jason Hammel (6-5, 3.10), Wednesday — LH Daniel Norris (2-2, 4.24) vs. LH Jon Lester (8-8, 3.21).