Joe Maddon gets a lot of well-earned plaudits for deftly guiding his over-achieving, under-payrolled Tampa Bay Rays into yet another late-season playoff run. He’s also witty, creative, quirky and fun to be around. But if you’re from his home town of Hazleton, Pa., you also know him as the guy who is leading the charge to unify Hazleton and save it from the divisive Hispanic-Anglo cultural chasm that had surfaced in the last decade.
So, given that Hazleton once passed the (eventually overturned) notorious Illegal Immigration Relief Act, has Maddon ever considered getting politically active on the subject of immigration? Anybody, say, reaching out for an endorsement?
Just askin’.
“I’m not apolitical,” concedes Maddon. “But I don’t see this as a Democratic or Republican issue. I try to look at both sides. I’m not qualified legally. I acknowledge that. But the reality is this: People are here. Are they ‘illegal people’ or is this an ‘illegal process’?”
No, he’s not apolitical.