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Watching a recent Little League game in Hazleton, what stuck out most to Joe Maddon was the names on the backs of the jerseys.
“I’m seeing Guzmans and Florentinos,” the Chicago Cubs manager told NBC’s Harry Smith while perched at the railing of a field. “I saw a Colon over there. I love it. I love it.”
When he’s not leading the Cubs into a new era following their historic World Series win in 2016, Maddon still seeks to help his hometown and improve what he considered a bleak future for the city.
Maddon’s work with the Hazleton Integration Project was featured on this week’s “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly.” The segment focused on the the Hazleton One Community Center, which opened in 2013, and Maddon’s vision for a return to the friendly town he remembered from childhood.
He cited a trip back to Hazleton in 2010 with his wife that was highlighted by tensions between the white population and the growing group of Hispanics.
“I was really appalled at what I was seeing,” Maddon said. “There was a disconnect. A lot of fear. … I just knew I didn’t like it. It was not the utopian place I grew up.”
Maddon’s initiative, which is spearheaded by his cousin and her husband — Elaine and Bob Curry — has begun to make inroads according to the segment, which interviewed people of various backgrounds.
“The last three years have been the best three years that we’ve had,” said Lauren Sacco, a Hazleton resident whose restaurant recently added Spanish menus to better serve the town.
Maddon said his friendships with Latin American players on his teams has helped him in life. And that those in Hazleton who refuse to embrace the same will be left behind.
“Because they’re going to save our town,” Maddon said of the Hispanic community. “And you have two options right here. You can get on board and help us, or you’re gonna die. And when you die and go away … then you’re not going to be part of the problem any more. So it’s either help or die.”