Rays/MLB

The Rays' new manager

By MARC TOPKIN
Published April 2, 2006

JOE MADDON

No. 70

Manager

AGE: 52 (Feb. 8, 1954)

BORN/LIVES: Hazleton, Pa./Brea, Calif.

HT/WT: 5-11/190

PERSONAL: Grew up in Hazleton, played baseball and football at Hazleton High (Class of 1972), where the diamond in 2003 was renamed Joe Maddon Field. ... Played baseball (mostly catcher) and freshman football (quarterback) at Lafayette College, 1972-76, while majoring in economics. ... Has girlfriend, Jaye Sousoures, a law student at Western State in California. ... Divorced, has two children, Sarah (24) and Joey (21) and a granddaughter, Tyler (4). ... Full name is Joseph John Maddon. ... Father, Joe, was a plumber at C. Maddon & Sons. Mother, Beanie, still works as a waitress at the Third Base Luncheonette. Grandfathers were coal miners. ... Considers himself Italian-Polish.

PLAYING CAREER: Signed by Angels in 1975 as a free agent catcher, played four seasons at Class A (Quad Cities, 1976; Salinas, 1977-78; Santa Clara, 1979), never getting in more than 58 games. Hit .267 with five homers and 69 RBIs in 170 career games. Played on Boulder, Colo., team that won 1975 National Baseball Congress.

COACHING CAREER: Worked as a scout, field coordinator, instructional league coordinator and briefly as farm director for the Angels. Spent seven seasons as a roving hitting instructor. Spent 12 years as a major-league coach with the Angels, working his way from bullpen coach to first-base coach to bench coach, where spent most of the past 10 seasons.

MINOR-LEAGUE MANAGING CAREER: Has 279-339 record in six seasons as a minor-league manager, moving up from rookie-league Idaho Falls to Double-A Midland. Won the 1982 Northwest League championship at Salem and was named manager of the year.

Year Team, level W L Pct. Pos.

1981 Idaho Falls, R 27 43 .386 3rd

1982 Salem, A 34-36 .486 1st

1983 Salem, A 31-39 .443 4th

1984 Peoria, A 66-73 .475 2nd

1985 Midland, AA 59-77 .434 8th

1986 Midland, AA 62-71 .466 6th

Totals 279-339 .451

MAJOR-LEAGUE MANAGING CAREER: Has a 33-26 record in three stints as Angels interim manager, filling in for John McNamara in 1996, who was filling in for Marcel Lachemann; and in 1998 and 1999 for Terry Collins. ... Signed two-year contract with Rays for about $1.1-million with a two-year option.

Year Team W-L Pct.

1996 Angels 8-14 .364

1998 Angels 6-2 .750

1999 Angels 19-10 .655

Totals 33-26 .559

MISCELLANY: Rides his Trek bike 60-100 miles a week. ... Says two coolest things he has seen are the roof of the Sistine Chapel and a Rolling Stones concert. ... Has, and knows how to use, an iPod, a laptop and a BlackBerry. ... Drives a '79 Corvette and a Dodge Ram 1500 truck at home; sold a '69 Impala convertible to Angels owner Arte Moreno. ... Roots for the Arizona Cardinals football team. ... Wears No. 70, the highest for a regular major-league manager, because after 1985 trade Angels gave his No. 20 to Don Sutton. ... Gardens and cooks; meatballs are a specialty. ... Likes beer and fine wine. ... Visited Italy twice. ... Uses Pino Maddoninni - Pino is Joe in Italian, Maddoninni is the original family name - on his voicemail message and desk nameplate.

FAVORITES: Philly cheesesteaks. ... Music from Bruce Springsteen to Motown to Luciano Pavarotti. ... Novelists Pat Conroy, Greg Iles, Wally Lamb, James Michener and Leon Uris. ... Self-authors Wayne Dyer (Wisdom of the Ages) and Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink). ... Gladiator, the Godfather series, Seinfeld, Cheers, M*A*S*H, anything on HDTV. ... Occam's Razor, an ancient principle that, in simplest form, suggests that in explaining a phenomenon to favor simplicity and make as few assumptions as possible.

[Last modified April 2, 2006, 01:24:20]