Joe Maddon and the MWL

Joe Maddon is the manager of the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays. He is also the subject of a few stories that reveal his Midwest League ties:

Peoria's Pete Vonachen, Rays' Joe Maddon share a bond

He came up to the Peoria Chiefs' owner one morning in 1984 and introduced himself.

He said, "Hi, I'm Joe Maddon and I'm your manager. I just want you to know that I've never managed a team before."

The owner shook his hand.

He said, "Hi, I'm Pete Vonachen and I've never owned a team before."

...

"Everybody in Peoria was afraid the team was going to leave town, so they convinced me to buy it," Vonachen recalled. "I think they got a bunch of drinks in me."

He inherited Maddon as manager.

At the time, Peoria was a part of the Angels' organization. Maddon had knocked around a while, playing minor-league ball in the Quad Cities and failing to make it past Class A ball as a catcher.

The '83 team in the Class A Midwest League had been known as the Peoria Suns, having moved there from Danville. The first thing Vonachen did was restore the Chiefs name from a previous Peoria incarnation of the team.

His next act was to notify the Angels that their affiliation would cease at the end of '84. Having been a Peoria businessman for a long time, Vonachen—which is pronounced "von-OCK-en"—felt it was a priority to join forces with the Cubs or Cardinals instead.

Pete is recovering from surgery to amputate his left leg, but he is still in pretty good spirits.

Rays manager Maddon left impact on QC

Joe Maddon’s professional baseball career began at Davenport’s John O’Donnell Stadium.

It was there that the manager who is preparing his Tampa Bay Rays for the World Series saw his first action as a minor-league player, working as a catcher for the Quad-City Angels in 1976.

“There were probably players with more pure talent on that team, but his leadership allowed him to stand out,” said Harry Pells, the general manager of the Midwest League club from 1976 to ’78.

“Thirty years have passed, and I don’t remember his average, but I do remember him quite well. That’s the kind of impact he had. And no question, he had the respect of his teammates.”

The Angels finished as the runner-up to Waterloo in the 1976 Midwest League playoffs and 10 players from that team reached the big leagues — most notably infielders Carney Lansford and Dickie Thon — but Maddon wasn’t among them.

But that doesn't matter to fans who remember him.

Longtime fan Frank Wulf remembers he and his wife Dorothy having postgame meals and good conversations with Maddon.

“He was a good catcher, and an even better person. He was a good man to be around and consider a friend,” Wulf said.

Maddon remained with the Angels after his playing career ended, working first as a manager and later as the organization’s minor-league hitting instructor and field coordinator.

He managed the Midwest League’s Peoria Chiefs in 1984, and then returned to the Quad-Cities many times as an instructor when the Angels were affiliated with Quad-Cities from 1985 to ’92.

Wulf recalls traveling to Peoria to watch Maddon manage, and he received a telephone message from Maddon earlier this year after his wife’s death.

“That’s the sort of guy Joe is, very thoughtful, very kind,” Wulf said.