We were really surprised when some residents of Hazleton were critical of Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon's remarks on nationwide TV about his hometown. He gave the Luzerne County city a million dollars worth of publicity when he appeared last month on NBC's news magazine - Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly.

During a segment hosted by commentator Harry Smith, Maddon lauded the contributions of a growing Hispanic population in the city and told the naysayers to either get on board and help, or "you're going to die, and when you die and go away, you're not going to be a part of the problem anymore. So it's either help or die."Granted, Maddon's words were less than elegant, but who would have expected them to have warranted an editorial of condemnation in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader newspaper, which demanded that he apologize for the remark?Maddon declined to apologize and said that his words were taken out of context. We agree. Anyone who saw the 11-minute segment in its entirety could come to just one conclusion: Maddon loves his hometown, and he has put his money where his mouth is in helping open a community center and a park. Maddon, whose Cubs won the World Series last year, breaking a 98-year drought, was one of the founders of the Hazleton Integration Project, whose goal is to help immigrants integrate into the community.The Times Leader quoted several residents who were displeased with Maddon's comments. In demanding the apology, the newspaper accused Maddon of "insulting the hardworking, fair-minded people of Hazleton."We find these harsh words to be way off base. Maddon insisted that there was no negative intent. "If you watch the show in its entirety, it's a really positive piece, and I think the message is 99.9 percent positive," he said.I watched the segment, and I completely agree with Maddon.Based on reaction he has gotten from the airing of the segment, Maddon said he believes there is only a small percentage of people who took his comments the wrong way. He said he hopes that they would get on board and be part of this effort to improve Hazleton.Referring to his use of the word "die," Maddon explained, "All I meant was as we continue to move forward, I really encourage people to become part of this positive movement and understand that if you choose not to, it's still going to change anyway when you're gone."The newspaper editorial said that even though Maddon's heart is "squarely in the right place," it reminded him that he is "not a social engineer; you are a baseball manager."The editorial went on to say: "For a guy who speaks to the media every day as part of his job leading the Cubs, he should be more savvy than to say such a thing about his Hazleton brethren. It was the equivalent of Joe the manager calling his own players a bunch of no-good bums."During his appearance on NBC, Maddon, 63, portrayed the Hazleton of his youth as "perfect," the personification of the early-TV shows "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It to Beaver." That Hazleton was blue-collar and "very white."Maddon said when he and his wife made a return trip to Hazleton in 2010, he was appalled by what he saw - fear, gangs, people were afraid to shop downtown."While Joe was building his baseball team, Hazleton was dying," Harry Smith said. Its population had shrunk by one-third, the jobs that had brought immigrants there a century ago were gone and replaced by warehouses and distribution centers.The pay wasn't great, but plenty attractive to a new wave of immigrants - Hispanics who came for jobs and affordable housing. The city is now more than 50 percent Hispanic.Following the killing of a white father of three by two undocumented immigrants, the city council and then-Mayor Lou Barletta passed some of the toughest anti-immigration laws in the country and declared English as the city's official language. An ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, Barletta, a Republican, is now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, whose district includes a portion of Carbon County, and is testing the waters for a possible run for the U.S. Senate next year against Democratic incumbent Bob Casey.Maddon said he didn't like what he was seeing, because it was not the utopian, friendly place where he grew up. He said the reception this new wave of immigrants was getting did not differ that much from the negative welcome that his parents and grandparents experienced when they came from Italy and Poland. His father shortened the family name from "Maddonini."This is what inspired him to organize the Hazleton Integration Project. Although the reception was lukewarm at first, Maddon's determination and charisma created an irresistible force, Smith said. The center the project helped build attracts more than 1,000 young people and adults a week.Let's applaud, not tear down, the efforts of Maddon and those like him who make extraordinary efforts to improve their hometowns. Through their success, they see this as a way to give back to a community, to pay their community rent.By Bruce Frassinelli |

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