Motivation Quote by Mike Quade

A “big market” doesn’t just magnify wins and losses; it turns every decision into public theater. Mike Quade’s line reads like practical baseball talk, but the subtext is about governance under a spotlight. In smaller cities, a coaching staff can be judged mostly by the clubhouse and the standings. In Chicago, New York, L.A., the staff becomes a shield, a signal, and sometimes a scapegoat.

Quade is pointing to scale: more cameras, louder radio, hungrier columns, more fans who feel like shareholders. That pressure doesn’t only land on the manager. It seeps into player routines, injury timelines, lineup experiments, even how a prospect’s slump gets narrated. A strong staff isn’t just teaching mechanics; it’s managing attention. It filters noise before it becomes panic, keeps a long season from turning into a daily referendum, and translates organizational philosophy into something players can execute while being booed, praised, memed, and dissected.

The intent feels like a veteran warning, maybe even a soft critique of front offices that treat coaching hires as interchangeable. In a big market, coaches are part tactician, part therapist, part PR firewall. When they’re good, they stabilize the story around the team. When they’re not, the market writes its own story, and it’s rarely generous.