PITTSBURGH -- It's been well documented that Rays manager Joe Maddon has his family roots in eastern Pennsylvania. But at the Rivers Club in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday night, it became quite evident that Maddon's family stretches to the western-most part of the state, as well.
It may not be family by blood, but it's certainly family by bond.
Maddon was honored by the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh with the second annual Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award. The award, which went to then-Yankees manager Joe Torre in 2007, honors the skipper that best exemplified the managing and leadership qualities of Tanner, a 19-year big-league manager.
With Maddon, who was named the American League Manager of the Year earlier this week, still in Europe on his honeymoon, he phoned in a request to Scott Challis, a resident of the Pittsburgh suburb of Freedom, Pa. It was Challis' son, John, who, while battling Hepatocellular Carcinoma, an adult form of liver cancer, inspired Maddon this summer with his message of courage and hope.
The two met for only 30 minutes back in June when the Rays came to Pittsburgh for an Interleague Play series against the Pirates. The meeting came about after Maddon saw a story documenting how the terminally ill teenager got a base hit in a varsity high school game in April. The story had moved Maddon to tears.
Their relationship continued well beyond that meeting. And Maddon's relationship with the Challis family, even after John's death on Aug. 19, still holds a special place in his heart.
'I thought, 'What better place for the Challis family, with what just happened, for them to accept the award on my behalf?'' Maddon said on Wednesday via conference call from his honeymoon in Europe. 'I also wanted it to be a platform and a venue for them to talk about their foundation.
'I thought it was the right thing to do, and they're very excited about it.'
Since their initial meeting, Scott Challis has stayed in touch with Maddon via e-mail. And he watched his son's memory live on through the Rays' run in October.
When he saw footage of Maddon speaking from his office at Tropicana Field, Scott Challis could see a picture of Jackie Robinson on one side of the room. On the other side hung John Challis' jersey and trademark message: 'Courage + Believe Life.'
Then there was the time prior to the Rays' Game 7 contest against the Red Sox when Challis visited his son's gravesite, placed a Rays hat on it and Maddon's picture next to it. He took a photo and e-mailed it to the Tampa Bay manager. Before the game, Maddon posted that photo in the team's clubhouse.
And as the family watched Tampa Bay make its run to the World Series, every time the camera focused on Maddon, for the Challis, it also focused on John.
'I can't even explain the feeling that we had to watch Joe Maddon make pitching changes and to see him wearing my son's red wristband,' Challis said, referring to the wristband with John Challis' courage message. Maddon wore it during every game.
The bond between Maddon and the Challis family also extends to Steve Wetzel, John Challis' high school baseball coach and close friend. Wetzel and Maddon exchange text messages just about every day and Maddon called Wetzel from the airport -- as he was leaving on Sunday for his European trip -- to again thank him for being present at the awards ceremony.
'I told him I felt so honored that we had become friends and he said, 'We always will be coach,'' Wetzel said, recalling the conversation. 'For Joe Maddon to call me coach is amazing.
'I tell my [high school] kids to watch how the Rays play,' Wetzel continued. 'I tell them to watch how everyone is up cheering on the first step. Watch how they are a team. And it's all because of one person -- Joe Maddon. He teaches character.'
And asked why Maddon and John Challis formed a unique and lasting bond, Wetzel immediately identified their commonalities.
'John and Joe Maddon are the two most genuine people I've ever met,' he said. 'They are straight shooters. They have wonderful personalities. And they are very sincere. They don't say something if they don't mean it.'
Saturday's awards ceremony and banquet was attended by about 300 guests, which included Pirates alumni Manny Sanguillen, Steve Blass and Kent Tekulve. Proceeds from the event went to the Rotary Club's humanitarian service initiatives and on board camera Rotary Foundation Programs.
Also making an appearance was Tanner, for whom the award has been named. Though Tanner, who serves as a senior advisor to Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, was not on the committee that selected Maddon as the recipient, he undoubtedly agreed with the decision.
'He's a dedicated baseball man that works at it constantly 24 hours a day,' Tanner said of Maddon. 'That's how he got the opportunity to manage. He stayed with his message and vivitar mini digital camera kept his team believing.'
That was Maddon's message, and speed camera database it was John Challis, too -- each inspiring the other.
It's somehow fitting that the teenager that lived nearly two years longer than doctors expected would become an inspiration to a team that kept hearing how it would not be able to continue to compete with the perennially high-spending clubs. And maybe that's why John Challis immediately identified with the Rays.
About four days before Challis passed away, Wetzel, donning a Rays jersey, made a visit to the Challis' home. Too weak to sit up, Challis opened his eyes, looked at the jerseysaid: ''That's our team.'
Wetzel looked back. 'That's right,' he said. 'That's our team.'
Read more about lan camera on top sites:
camera
dpreview
bhphotovideo
