Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is sticking to his guns and standing by his player.
Major League Baseball determined Tuesday that Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was, in fact, guilty of interference on his controversial slide into Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elias Diaz. Maddon doesn't agree with the league's assessment or with Rizzo being characterized as a dirty player.
"Don't permit a fabrication to sully a reputation based on a good baseball play," Maddon said Tuesday afternoon, per ESPN. "It had nothing to do with Anthony who did nothing dirty or wrong in that play. It was an interpretation the day after that all of a sudden is shedding light on it."
Related: Maddon doesn't expect retaliation from Pirates
The Cubs bench boss referred to most of the analyses of the play as "inane," crediting MLB Network's Eric Byrnes as the only analyst in question "with half a brain."
Maddon also maintained that if Diaz had made a better play, this wouldn't have become a talking point at all.
"Last point, if the catcher gets rid of the ball more quickly, makes an accurate throw, you're not even asking me this question."
