MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Joe Maddon hugged Anthony Rizzo, shared an in-game microphone with Kris Bryant, slapped hands with the Cubs’ mascot and drew a warm reception from the Chicago fans at Sloan Park.

As if he’d never been away at all.

The manager who guided the Cubs to an elusive World Series championship in 2016 and parted ways with the team after last season returned on Monday, now guiding the Los Angeles Angels.

The mini-reunion came during at a spring training exhibition, with a split-squad of Cubs topping the Angels 9-4.

While talking to ESPN recently, ex-Cubs manager Joe Maddon made some of the most enlightening comments yet on the end of his time in Chicago.

Speaking on why things ended, Maddon didn’t hold back when discussing how things dissolved.

“There was just, you can say, philosophical differences,” he said. “But he and I are still good friends. And I like the man a lot. It was just time for him to get someone else and time for me to work somewhere else. That’s all. A five-year shelf life in Chicago is almost equivalent to five to 10 somewhere else. At the end of the day, man, there’s nothing to lament there. That was the most successful five years that the Cubs have ever had.”