“We play the liberal arts style of baseball,” Joe Maddon ’76 said. “We do a little bit of everything right.”
Another engaging locker room interview for the Tampa Bay Rays’ articulate skipper? No, he made these comments during a ceremony at Pfenning Alumni Center Sept. 2 at which President Daniel H. Weiss and Board Chair Edward W. Ahart ’69 presented him with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. The diploma is on display in Maddon’s Tropicana Field office with his Lafayette baseball jersey, a photo of the 1973 Leopard nine, and other memorabilia from his days on College Hill.
Weiss said, “One of the qualities we celebrate at Lafayette is that it is a place of opportunity. Joe seized an opportunity to pursue his passion, which became a career. Lafayette is proud of your accomplishments.” Maddon has been at the Rays’ helm for five seasons. He was named American League Manager of the Year in 2008 for leading the team to the A.L. pennant and a meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series after the Rays had finished with baseball’s worst record the year before.