JOLIET — Joe Maddon, the manager who helped the Chicago Cubs organization break its 108-year World Series drought in 2016, will be the guest speaker at the University of St. Francis. The event will take place Feb. 13 at the Pat Sullivan Center on the USF campus.
Three-time manager of the year, Maddon has worked with two other organizations besides the Cubs. Most recently, he was with the Los Angeles Angels, where he served two stints, while getting his first full-time managerial opportunity with the Tampa Bay Rays.
In all, Maddon has been successful at the major league level in 19 of his 45-plus years in professional baseball. During that time, he amassed 1,382 wins, which ranks him 32nd all-time, including 32 career playoff wins, the ninth most in history.
Maddon was also responsible for two of the best turnovers in MLB history with the 2008 Rays and 2015 Cubs. The Rays went from being the worst team in baseball – a 66-96 record in 2007 – to 97-65 and won the American League pennant in 2008. The Cubs also went 97-65 in Maddon’s first year at the helm after the team went 73-89 in 2014. A year later, the Cubs won their first World Series title since 1908, going 103-58-1. He scored the most single-season wins for the organization since 1910, when that team had 104 wins.
Maddon will be the second member of the Cubs World Series championship team to speak at USF’s Brown & Gold Night. Former wide receiver David Ross spoke in January 2017, straight after the series win.
Maddon also joins Ross in writing a book, which came out this fall. Co-written with award-winning sportswriter Tom Verducci, “The Book of Joe” is a memoir of Maddon’s journey through life and baseball.
Maddon is yet another in the long list of sports celebrities to speak at USF’s Brown & Gold Night, which featured 17 Hall of Fame inductees. Among the list were John Wooden, Al McGuire and Ray Meyer in basketball; Football’s Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Dan Hampton, Brian Urlacher, Paul Hornung and Bart Starr; and Fergie Jenkins and Frank Thomas of Diamond. Others have included Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable and Blackhawks forward Denis Savard, as well as USF’s Gordie Gillespie, one of college baseball’s all-time winningest coaches.
The annual fundraiser begins with a cash bar at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and the program at 8 p.m. The event will also include a silent auction and a live auction. No autograph requests will be granted on the evening of the event.
Tickets are available for $65 each or a table of 10 for $650. Corporate sponsorships are available. For more information, contact the USF Athletic Department at 815-740-3842 or www.gofightingsaints.com.
