A couple weeks ago Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon was featured on NBC’s “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” interviewed by Harry Smith and now residents of Hazleton, Pa., are demanding an apology after a comment made about the Pennsylvania town where Maddon grew up in.
The Chicago Tribune picked up the story on Tuesday, as The Times Leader newspaper in Wilkes Barre, Pa., ran an editorial that expressed displeasure in Maddon’s comments about the growing Hispanic population in Hazleton.
This is what Maddon said in the NBC interview that has angered residents of his hometown.
Via The Times Leader:
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It was actually a positive piece by correspondent Harry Smith for Megyn Kelly’s new Sunday night show. The theme was how Joe’s work through his Hazleton Integration Project, or HIP, has helped the city’s sizable immigrant population — specifically Hispanics — assimilate into the community and change perceptions.
But then Joe slipped up big time.
“They’re going to save our town,” Maddon said of the newcomers to Hazleton. “You have two options right here. Either you get on board and help us as we’re moving this thing along or you’re going to die. And when you die and go away, then you’re going to get out of the way. You’re not going to be part of the problem anymore. So, it’s either help or die.”
This is how the editorial starts, calling out Maddon for his remarks.
“He’s full of himself,” said one senior citizen and lifelong Hazleton resident.
Another noted: “That was terrible. I hate him. I hope he doesn’t win one game.”
The editorial ends with one demand, an apology from Maddon.
He needs to apologize for insulting the hardworking and fair-minded people of Hazleton — they are many in number, contrary to what the national reports seem to imply. And we want to hear an apology straight from Maddon, not through a spokesperson or a family member. If he has the time to talk to NBC and other outlets, surely he can interrupt this baseball season for a mea culpa to his hometown.
We’re waiting, Joe.
I think the fair-minded people of Hazleton agree with Maddon and it’s the people who don’t like what’s going on there that Maddon was talking about.
Here’s the Maddon interview on NBC.
Will Maddon address the issue? We’ll find out as he meets with the media before Tuesday night’s Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants.
