Background and career
Joseph John Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball manager. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). After playing and coaching in the minor leagues, Maddon began his MLB coaching career with the Angels in 1994 and served under managers Buck Rodgers, Marcel Lachemann, John McNamara, Terry Collins, and Mike Scioscia. He served two stints as interim manager during this time. He managed the Rays from 2006 through 2014, winning the 2008 American League pennant. After opting out of his contract following the 2014 season, Maddon joined the Cubs. He led them to the 2015 National League Championship Series and was named the 2015 National League Manager of the Year. In 2016, Maddon managed the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. He managed the Cubs through 2019 and managed the Angels from 2020 to 2022.
Maddon grew up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the son of an Italian father, Joseph Anthony Maddon (who shortened the family name from Maddonini), and a Polish mother, Albina Klocek, Maddon grew up in an apartment over his father's plumbing shop. His father died in 2002. Maddon attended Lafayette College, where he played baseball and football. He is a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lafayette College on September 2, 2010. Maddon began his professional career playing in Minor League Baseball as a catcher, signing with the California Angels organization as a free agent in 1975. Maddon never advanced higher than Class A, in which he played for four seasons. He began his career for the Quad Cities Angels in 1976, hitting .294 in 50 games and 163 at bats. He followed up with two seasons for the Salinas Angels and a final season with the Santa Clara Padres. In his four seasons, he never had more than 180 at bats in a season, and the most home runs he ever hit was three for the Salinas Angels in 1977. Overall, he hit .267 with 5 home runs in 514 at bats.
In 1979, after spending four seasons trying to make it as a catcher in the Angels organization, Maddon decided to give up his playing career and become a coach. He started as a scout and would continue on to such positions as manager in the Angels farm system and Minor League roving hitting instructor. As a minor league manager, he had a 279–339 (.451) record in six seasons. He managed in the minors from 1981 to 1986, each team having a losing record. His stops included managing the Idaho Falls Angels of the Rookie League (1981), the Class A Salem Angels (1982–1983), Class A Peoria Chiefs (1984), and the Class AA Midland Angels (1985–1986). After serving as Minor League roving instructor from 1987 to 1993, Maddon was promoted to the big league club as a coach. Maddon served as a major league coach for the Angels from 1994 to 2005. He held such positions as first base coach, bench coach, and interim manager on three occasions following the hospitalization of John McNamara in 1996, the suspension of Terry Collins in 1998, and Collins' eventual departure in 1999. He finished with a combined record of 27 wins and 24 losses as interim manager. He also served under Marcel Lachemann from 1993 to 1994. While he served as bench coach under McNamara and Collins, he rotated positions often. He finally found stability when the Angels hired Mike Scioscia in 1999. He served as Scioscia's bench coach from 2000 to 2005, winning a World Series ring in 2002. By the time Maddon left Anaheim, he had spent 31 years overall with the Angels organization. Maddon was considered a candidate for the Boston Red Sox manager job in 2004, which went to Terry Francona.
On November 15, 2005, Maddon was hired to manage the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Rays went 121–197 (.381) in Maddon's first two seasons. The Rays were in yet another re-building phase, this time under the management of General Manager Andrew Friedman. Tampa Bay held the lowest payroll in baseball at $44 million. They had yet to have a winning season but were hopeful due to the development of young homegrown stars David Price, Evan Longoria, James Shields and B. J. Upton. Unlike his predecessor, Lou Piniella, Maddon preached patience in developing a young core of players while enduring back to back 90+ game losing seasons.
In 2008, Maddon guided the newly renamed Rays to the first winning season and division title in franchise history. He led a team of young players that won the American League East over the heavily favored New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Maddon's team recorded the franchise's first playoff series victory in the 2008 American League Division Series (ALDS) vs. the Chicago White Sox by 3–1, and followed with a 4-games-to-3 triumph over the rival Red Sox in the 2008 American League Championship Series (ALCS). This was the first World Series appearance for the Rays, in which Tampa Bay held home-field advantage against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies won the World Series in five games. Maddon won the American League Manager of the Year Award. He also received the Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award.
On May 25, 2009, the Tampa Bay Rays and Maddon agreed to a contract extension that would keep him manager of the Rays through 2012. He had been in the final year of his initial contract with the team. The Rays stated that there was "never a question" on whether to keep Maddon after the conclusion of the 2009 season. On July 14, 2009, Maddon managed the American League All Star team to a 4–3 victory. Controversy accompanied his failure to pick second baseman Ian Kinsler as a reserve, despite Kinsler having narrowly come in second in the fan voting, the player voting, and the "Sprint Final Vote" competition. To replace fellow second baseman Dustin Pedroia, Maddon instead chose Tampa Bay's first baseman Carlos Peña. Similarly, to replace Longoria, Maddon chose Chone Figgins of the Angels.
