CHICAGO — It is not unusual during a road trip to see Chicago Cubs first base coach Mike Napoli at a table in the visitors clubhouse playing cribbage with a player.
Veteran left-hander Wade Miley has been one of his toughest opponents while infielders Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal have started learning to play. Napoli views card games as important relationship builders between players and even coaches. It goes back to his playing career, recalling how he would square off against manager Terry Francona during Napoli’s one season in Cleveland.
Those settings allow for personal connections and bonding where the focus isn’t about baseball.
“Being able to go back and forth between player-coach-type personality stuff, it’s just so valuable,” manager David Ross said of Napoli to the Tribune. “It really is.”
Napoli, 40, always figured he would get into coaching once his playing career ended. But he thought he’d take more time off after he retired in 2018 because of a torn ACL suffered in Triple A. He quickly realized, however, he didn’t know how to fill so much free time.
So when Ross, his teammate for two years in Boston, reached out after taking over as Cubs manager in October 2019 to see if he was interested in joining his staff, Napoli knew he was ready to commit to coaching.
Napoli, in his third season with the organization, has enjoyed a different side of the game while taking on a bigger role this year as first base coach.
“I know the game of baseball, but actually being able to teach it and get into the players’ heads and try to help them out, I’ve been learning,” Napoli told the Tribune. “I’m trying to pick my spots to getting the message out. It’s a little different than when I played.
“It’s been a learning experience, but I think I’m growing every day to become better as a coach.”
One aspect of coaching that has surprised Napoli is the amount of hours spent at the ballpark. As a player, Napoli didn’t realize how much time coaches put in daily: “Shoot, coaches are underpaid,” he added with a laugh.
The long hours are a worthwhile investment for Napoli, both in his desire to help Cubs players improve and his long-term career goal to become a major-league manager.
“I’ve always wanted to manage, but I knew I was going to have to take the steps to learn,” Napoli said. “I’m always up for that. I always want to make myself the best I possibly can. I don’t know everything about this game. I’m going to learn new stuff every day.”
Napoli’s big-league résumé made him an attractive addition to the coaching staff, and he had garnered attention from other teams before committing to the Cubs. Over a 12-year career with four organizations, Napoli made an All-Star team, appeared in three World Series — winning a title with Ross on the 2013 Red Sox — while producing a career .246/.346/.475 line with 267 home runs and 117 OPS+ as a catcher-turned-first baseman/designated hitter.
“He’s got a really good reputation in the game,” Ross said. “He’s done a lot and he’s somebody that, one, we have history together, we’re friends, but he’s also somebody that carries a lot of weight when it comes to experience in this game. That goes a long way in the dugout with the players.”
Napoli is one of six among the Cubs’ field staff with major-league playing experience, joining Ross, bench coach Andy Green, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, third base coach Willie Harris and assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos.
“They know how hard the game is, they know the league,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told the Tribune. “They relate a little bit better to them and I think it’s important to have a mix of those guys on the staff. You don’t want a full staff of guys like that. You also don’t want to have an entire staff made up of guys that won’t necessarily understand what these (players) are going through.
“Rossy and the people that were around (Napoli), everyone spoke so highly of not only was he a great teammate, but a great base runner, really paid attention and focused on things and he’s got a real presence about him.”
After spending his first two seasons as a quality assurance coach, the Cubs moved Napoli to first base coach and shifted Craig Driver, who had filled that role since 2020, into the dugout as their game strategy and catching coach prior to the 2022 season.
The Cubs felt the change upgraded both areas and played to each coach’s strengths. Base running instruction is among Napoli’s duties.
“It’s given him accountability, fire, does his homework on the pitcher, does the small little things you have to do on the opposing team that has made him even more invested in the guys,” Ross said. “Because he wants all of them to have success and tries to create friendships with all those guys.”
Napoli is enjoying his new role. He admitted he was getting worn out by his previous position and didn’t have much to do in the dugout during games.
“I felt like I was turning into a psychologist,” Napoli said. “I was trying to talk people down, like, ‘Bro, everything’s OK.’ It just turned into that kind of thing. But being out there now, every time having something to do, to worry about and have my own area, it’s been awesome.”
Veteran catcher Yan Gomes and Napoli were Cleveland teammates in 2016 when they ultimately lost to the Cubs in the World Series. Gomes describes Napoli as a quiet, intense guy who loves baseball. He isn’t surprised by Napoli’s transition to the coaching side. Even then, six years ago, Gomes envisioned Napoli going this route.
“He’s definitely putting in the work and is wanting to get better at it, which really has been his M.O. his whole career,” Gomes said. “He’s done a tremendous job. He just has to figure it out a little bit of being a mentor and a coach, but for me, he doesn’t have to change who he was with me in 2016.”
Napoli generally considers himself a chill, laid-back guy. Maybe that sounds surprising given the “Party at Napoli’s” moniker that gained attention during Cleveland’s run to the World Series. A fan created a sign with the phrase in April 2016, inspired by Napoli’s celebration style after winning the title in 2013. The sign caught Napoli’s and the team’s attention, which turned into an official t-shirt with proceeds reaching more than $200,000 donated to the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital.
Whether it’s bonding over card games or putting in long days at the ballpark, Napoli is embracing his role with the Cubs.
“I did like to have fun off the field, I mean, I think everyone knows that,” Napoli said. “But I think that’s where you get to know your teammates, and I always like bringing people together. Sometimes we get a little cliquey in the clubhouse. If it was off the field, you want to have a party or do whatever, it was that. But people become closer when you get away from the field.
“In this game people are tough on themselves, so that demeanor hopefully helps people relax a little bit.”
