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Lackawanna County Commissioners eye downtown Scranton’s MetroTech Center, formerly The Globe Store, for government offices

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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; Five preteen boys circle the Hazleton One Community Center with an unbridled enthusiasm and vigor that&#8217;s otherwise practice for convincing the pros to cough up foul balls in the summer. But, here, in the middle of a patented rainy and foggy December day, their sights are set on convincing young journalists and passersby to give them an avenue at meeting Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon and some of his big league pals.</p><p>&#8220;Hey man! Any chance you got a spare 60 bucks?,&#8221; one of the boys asked. &#8220;Or how about this &#8211; I&#8217;ll pretend to be your son for the day. Just get me in there to meet Joe.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon built a reputation among his native city&#8217;s youth that&#8217;s forged upon much more than his third career Manager of the Year award won last month. As part of his backed Hazleton Integration Project&#8217;s fifth annual holiday bash, Maddon and his organization showed off the facelift made at the Hazleton One Community Center&#8217;s gymnasium Thursday.</p><p>At last year&#8217;s Christmas event, it was in dismal condition with dreadful lighting, peeled-off paint and missing ceramic tiles falling off the broken backboard. Now, with the support of Ollie&#8217;s and Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, it&#8217;s replaced with a state-of-the-art batting cage, pristine blue-and-gray court and a stage that featured a welcoming holiday display.</p><p>&#8220;In your mind&#8217;s eye you try to visualize it,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;Obviously we came in a couple of days ago and we walked in here and saw this spectacular transformation. They have the ability to play some hoops, take some (batting practice), field some ground balls, pitchers will be able to throw off the mound if we get a portable mound in here.</p><p>&#8220;If it was back in the day, and we had the ability to use a facility like this, it would have blown us away. I mean that sincerely.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon spoke at a press conference to dedicate the newly remodeled athletic facility prior to a fireside chat and dinner to raise funds for the Hazleton Integration Project. Joining him were former Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe, ESPN journalist Tim Kurkjian, former Cubs outfielder Jose Cardenal, Cubs&#8217; catching instructor Mike Borzello, Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey and renowned sports psychologist Ken Ravizza.</p><p>Sutcliffe admittedly suffered through similar hardships that many of Hazleton&#8217;s children face today. Their despair resonated with the former Chicago Cub hurler and current ESPN personality.</p><p>Sutcliffe&#8217;s father left his family when he was 9 years old, and Sutcliffe&#8217;s mother reached the brink of sending Rick and his siblings to a foster home. Sutcliffe&#8217;s grandfather encouraged him to start playing at a baseball field in Kansas City, at a facility similar to the ones created in Hazleton. Sutcliffe said didn&#8217;t know how to spell baseball at the time, but his experiences led him to volunteer with Madden&#8217;s cause.</p><p>&#8220;To me, when you talk about hope, that&#8217;s exactly what you&#8217;re talking about here,&#8221; Sutcliffe said. &#8220;When I heard Joe talking about Hazleton and the passion he had for this, I begged him. I said &#8216;I&#8217;m not Cal Ripken Jr., those are shoes that hardly anyone can fill. But I&#8217;d love to be a part of it.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Many of former ballplayers remarked on their first impressions of the embattled city that&#8217;s at the forefront of Maddon&#8217;s cause.</p><p>&#8220;To see Joe here and how he knows everybody and how close knit this community is, it&#8217;s really astounding to someone like me who grew up completely different,&#8221; Ravizza said. &#8220;I wanted to see what (this city) is all about and what you guys are doing.&#8221;</p><p>Maddon remarked on the Cubs&#8217; surprising success last season. The Cubs made their first National League championship appearance in 12 years, following a 24-win improvement during Maddon&#8217;s first season at Wrigley Field. Prior to that, he led the cash-strapped Tampa Bay Rays to four playoffs in seven years and a World Series appearance in 2009.</p><p>He said the addition of Jon Lester (&#8220;the guy that made winning much more believable&#8221;), the ascension of Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta (&#8220;I thought he&#8217;d be good; I didn&#8217;t think he&#8217;d be that good&#8221;), the experience of David Ross (&#8220;the most important guy in the clubhouse&#8221;) and the Cubs&#8217; youth were pivotal.</p><p>&#8220;The most important thing is to get the group to come together,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the hard part, the one that requires the most dedication. The guys came together faster than any particular group. And a lot of it comes down to the veterans.&#8221;</p><p>After a busy offseason for general manager Theo Epstein, Maddon admitted his team has &#8220;big targets&#8221; on their backs this season. Maddon called the signing of pitcher John Lackey was the &#8220;best acquisition of the offseason that no one is even talking about.&#8221; The Cubs also acquired Trevor Cahil, former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders right-handed pitcher Adam Warren, Rex Brothers, Ben Zobrist and three-time Gold Glove winner Jason Heyward.</p><p>&#8220;(Heyward) is one of the top five players in the National League,&#8221; Maddon said. &#8220;Everyone is always talking about batting average, and it really bores me. This guy here is a really good player. He plays defense. Top three base runners in baseball. He is a guy that shows up and shows up with energy every day. I think a lot of times in the sabermetrical world that&#8217;s overlooked. It&#8217;s not fantasy baseball, it&#8217;s about real people playing.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Maddon </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Managers-Of-The-Year-_Sopr-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Maddon </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jay Monahan</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table class="mceItemTable" style="border:none;width:98%;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> UNtDDVSVwQI</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNtDDVSVwQI </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> Chicago Cubs manager and Hazleton native, Joe Maddon talks about Cubs&#8217; playoff run</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Jay Monahan | For Times Leader</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Joe Maddon hits a homer in native Hazleton