HAZLETON, Pa. -- This is how Thanksmas began:
Long before Joe Maddon managed the Cubs to their first World Series Championship in 108 years, he was a coach for the Angels, and he used to ride his bicycle up and down the Southern California coast. His usual route was between Sunset Beach and Huntington Beach, and the vistas could be spectacular. But he focused on something else.
"You'd see so many guys and ladies pushing their entire life in a shopping cart," Maddon explained. "It really bothered me. Bothered me. I didn't have the platform as a bench coach to really do something.