Joe Maddon On World Series Win with Cubs, Managing Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout

In The Front Row with Mike Vaccaro

Joe Maddon On World Series Win with Cubs, Managing Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout Joe Maddon was born in Hazleton, PA and grew up playing baseball along with football and basketball. After playing baseball and one season of football at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, Maddon signed a free agent contract with the California Angels as a catcher. Following four seasons in minor league baseball, he was convinced to go into coaching. He spent over 30 years within the Angels organization which included three stints as interim manager and a World Series championship as a coach in 2002. In 2006, Maddon got his chance to be a full-time manager for the first time with Tampa Bay and led the Rays to the World Series in 2008 earning his first of three Manager of the Year awards. His time with the Rays included over 750 wins but ended after the 2014 season when he decided to join the Chicago Cubs. In 2015, Maddon took the Cubs to their first postseason appearance in seven seasons and in 2016 he led Chicago to a World Series title, their first in 108 years. He returned to the west coast to manage the Angels in 2020 and held that position until the middle of the 2022 season. Maddon is back in his hometown enjoying some downtime and working with the Hazleton Integration Project which he established in 2013. In this episode, we hear about Maddon’s tie to the city of Hazleton and how it helped him become the person he is today. He tells us why his catching career has helped his career as an MLB manager. Maddon also recounts stories of winning the World Series with the Cubs and tells us what it’s like when he returns to Chicago. Plus, he gives us his take on Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout along with his thoughts on the game now and if he’ll manage again. We also hear about his podcast, “The Book of Joe”, which is based on the recent book he co-wrote with sports journalist Tom Verducci.