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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; Dr. Ken Ravizza remembers being in Joe Maddon&#8217;s office with other members of the Chicago Cubs staff this season preparing for the St. Louis Cardinals when Maddon&#8217;s mind wandered back to Hazleton.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re getting ready to play the Cardinals and Joe&#8217;s talking about this center here in Hazleton,&#8221; Ravizza said Wednesday night as the Joe Maddon and Friends Coaching the Coaches Clinic kicked off five days of activities involving the three-time Major League Baseball Manager of the Year in his hometown.</p><p>Maddon was one of eight experts in the game who conducted the clinic at the Hazleton One Community Center, the base for many of the week&#8217;s activities. They spent nearly five hours (running nearly an hour longer than advertised in order for Maddon and others to answer questions) providing in-depth instruction on the game to dozens of coaches, split nearly equally into thirds among college, high school and youth coaches, with a few absorbing the concepts for softball.</p><p>&#8220;By no means is this insulting to anybody,&#8221; Maddon told the attendees early in the clinic. &#8220;If I was in your shoes, I would want to be sitting out there talking to guy who had managed in the big leagues, to some coaches who had coached at that level and to a guy who has worked with some Olympic gold medalists in regard to the mental component of the game.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon brought other professional baseball coaches with him for a clinic, which he hopes experiences the same type of growth his other efforts in Hazleton have in recent years.</p><p>&#8220;We hope this can grow,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;When you come back next year, I promise you this will be at least double, maybe even triple the number of people.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon&#8217;s week in Hazleton will continue Thursday with a 4 p.m. Press Conference with Stars at the Hazleton One Community Center to dedicate the newly renovated gymnasium. It will be followed by a fireside chat from 5-8:30 p.m. with Maddon, joining ESPN&#8217;s Tim Kurkjian and Rick Sutcliffe.</p><p>Activities continue Friday when Manny Ramirez, Ed &#8220;Too Tall&#8221; Jones and many others will take part in Maddon&#8217;s fifth annual Holiday Celebration at Genetti&#8217;s Ballroom. </p><p>Baseball is where Maddon has become famous and it is where he built a base for the rest of the week.</p><p>Remembering the lead-up to that Cubs-Cardinals game, Ravizza said helped make the event special.</p><p>&#8220;He was talking about the center and how much it means to him,&#8221; Ravizza said. &#8220;That gives you some perspective on what Joe Madden is about and why it&#8217;s a pleasure to be here.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon&#8217;s friends broke the game down into categories, teaching the fine points of baseball&#8217;s psychology, outfield play, catching, base running, infield defense, hitting and pitching.</p><p>In addition to jumping in at times to reiterate their points, Maddon also shared his philosophies on the game as a whole.</p><p>Maddon, for example, explained why pitching and infield defense are so important in an era when baseball has put some controls on Performance Enhancing Drugs and the effects they had on bloating offensive output.</p><p>&#8220;The hitter&#8217;s at a great disadvantage and he&#8217;s going to be at a disadvantage for a while,&#8221; Maddon said.</p><p>That disadvantage has many causes.</p><p>&#8220;Why do you think hitting is so bad right now?&#8221; Maddon said of scouting reports. &#8220;All the information that&#8217;s out there is hitting-specific. &#8220;Sabermetrics really benefits pitching and defense.&#8221;</p><p>Madden, one of the first proponents of putting three infielders on one side of second base against several different hitters over the course of the season, talked about the shift and how it&#8217;s not so simple for pitchers to readjust to defensive adjustments.</p><p>&#8220;If a hitter pulls the ball more than 80 percent of the time it makes sense,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;Then people ask, &#8216;why doesn&#8217;t he just hit the other way?&#8217;</p><p>&#8220;If he hasn&#8217;t been doing it for the last 15 years, he&#8217;s not all of a sudden going to do it when this guy&#8217;s throwing 97 miles per hours with some movement.&#8221;</p><p>Sutcliffe came in from San Diego in time to take in the clinic, then also got up to address the coaches near the conclusion.</p><p>&#8220;This was an outstanding job by these coaches,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been in the big leagues since &#8217;76 and you should see the notes I took.</p><p>&#8220;I applaud you guys for being here. Now, do me a favor, spread the word.&#8221;</p><p>While Maddon and Sutcliffe hope word spreads about the clinic, word continues to spread about Maddon&#8217;s impact on his old hometown.</p><p>Wednesday&#8217;s instructors all donated their time so that proceeds could go to the Hazleton Integration Project.</p><p>&#8220;Nobody&#8217;s making any money on this,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;They came here to impart some information.</p><p>&#8220;All proceeds go to HIP.&#8221;</p><p>HIP seeks to transform Hazleton through integration.</p><p>It is a project that Maddon has spearheaded since 2010. He created Respect 90, another charitable project, with his wife earlier this year, but said one of the keys to that is all money raised remains in the community in which it was raised, such as this week&#8217;s activities supporting Hazleton.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon speaks about the Hazleton Community One Center before his coaching clinic in Hazleton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon speaks about the Hazleton Community One Center before his coaching clinic in Hazleton. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mike Borzello, MLB great Jose Cardenal and Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper laugh as Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon makes introductions during his coaching clinic on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mike Borzello, MLB great Jose Cardenal and Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper laugh as Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon makes introductions during his coaching clinic on Wednesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joe Maddon talks with Penn State coach Rob Cooper at a coaches clinic in Hazleton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Joe Maddon talks with Penn State coach Rob Cooper at a coaches clinic in Hazleton. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">College, High School and Little League coaches listen as Dr Ken Ravizza a Sports Psychologist discusses the sport. 12/16/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic4.jpg</photo3><caption3>College, High School and Little League coaches listen as Dr Ken Ravizza a Sports Psychologist discusses the sport. 12/16/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dr. Ken Rivazza and Jim Hickey chat before the coaches clinic in Hazleton. 12/16/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715maddon-coaching-clinic5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Dr. Ken Rivazza and Jim Hickey chat before the coaches clinic in Hazleton. 12/16/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon holds coaches clinic