Joe Maddon

Category

From the dirt surrounding a small apartment above his family’s plumbing business in Hazleton, Joe Maddon made his way to the dirt of major league baseball. Known for his superb communication skills and fearless use of imaginative managerial tactics, Joe Maddon has spent 48 seasons in professional baseball, 17 as a major league manager with the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs where he managed the storied franchise to its only World Series Crown in the past 113 seasons. The three-time manager of the year managed the Rays for nine seasons (2006-14), the Cubs for five (2015-19) and the Angels for three (2020-22). Joe’s all-time winning percentage .532 (1,382-1,216) is 14th all-time among managers with 2,500 or more games. His 2,599 games managed are 31st all-time and his 1,382 games are 32nd. Joe led the Cubs to 471 wins (94 per season) and four postseason appearances, their most successful five-year span in over 100 years. Maddon led the Cubs to winning seasons in each of his five seasons, the first time 47 years that the Cubs had five straight winning campaigns. Only two teams won more games than the Cubs during Joe’s tenure: the Dodgers and Astros. In 2016, Joe took the Cubs to their first National League pennant since 1945, their first World Series title since 1908 and with a 103-59 record, their most wins since 1910. In 2018, he became the first Cubs manager to lead the team to four consecutive postseasons. In his nine seasons with Tampa Bay, Joe led the Rays to four post season appearances and one American League pennant. The team has been to the postseason in only two of their other 14 seasons. His teams have 90 or more games nine times, and he is one of only nine managers to win pennants in both the American and National Leagues.  Joe’s eight postseason appearances tie among others, Hall of Famer Connie Mack, for ninth most in major league history. He is the only major league manager to reach the postseason eight times in his first 13 full seasons. He has engineered two of the greatest turnarounds in major league history. In 2008, he took the Rays from a 68-96 last place finish in 2007 to a 98-64 mark and a World Series berth. In his first year with the Cubs, he guided them to a 97-65 season, 34 more wins than the previous season. Maddon is one of only three managers in major league history to go to the postseason seven or more times and not play in the major leagues joining Joe McCarthy and Jim Leyland. His 32 postseason wins are 11th in major league history. Joe won the Manager of the Year Award in 2008, 2011 and 2015 making him one only eight managers to win the award at least three times. He joins Tony La Russa (four times), Bobby Cox (four), Bob Melvin (three), Dusty Baker (three), Jim Leyland (three), Buck Showalter (three) and Lou Piniella (three). He is the sixth manager to win the award in both leagues, joining La Russa, Cox, Leyland, Piniella and Melvin.

Joe attended Lafayette College (Easton, PA) where he played three years of varsity baseball and one season of freshman football. During his freshman season, he was converted from shortstop-pitcher to catcher, a transition that occurred during Lafayette’s southern road trip to Florida. He received his honorary degree from Lafayette on September 2, 2010 and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in November 2009. Maddon went undrafted but signed with the Angels and played three seasons of minor league ball. Joe’s managing career began with Class A Idaho Falls in 1981.

An avid cyclist, a lover of good food and wine, and a successful restaurant owner, Joe is also a committed philanthropist. Joe backed the creation of the Hazleton Intergration Program in 2015 to help bridge the growing gap between the Anglo and growing Hispanic populations in Hazleton as well as provide a variety of much needed community services for all. His Hazleton One Community Center stands as the crowning jewel of the whole project. In 2019, Joe rolled out Try Not To Suck Beer and a family recipe pasta sauce in Chicago supermarkets with the proceeds going to Respect 90, a non-profit organization designed for children and families to develop championship attitudes through sports, academics and community involvement. Sales in Chicago are still active. In February 2021, Joe received a “Community Hero” award from the Tampa Bay Lightning and with it a $50,000 grant to his Respect 90 Foundation from the Lightning Foundation. Joe is also an author. The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life released in the fall of 2022. Always leaving himself open to the possibility of again managing, Joe spends most of his time with his wife, Jaye, their four grown children and five grandchildren.