TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rays Skipper Embracing Joy Of The Season

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2008

Updated:

ST. PETERSBURG - Nice guys finish first, too.

Joe Maddon might lead the majors in hugs this October. He padded his lead at Tropicana Field on Tuesday afternoon, the day before a World Series for his Tampa Bay Rays.

Maddon stood in a hall, talking to two more reporters. Twice he stopped in mid-quote. He saw Philadelphia Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. They hugged. Then injured Phillies reliever Tom Gordon, his arm in a sling, threw his free arm around Maddon.

There's no end to the people who are happy for the Rays 54-year-old manager. This weekend, he'll take his AL champs to Philadelphia, to eastern P-A, where he learned about honesty, work, respect and happiness from the greatest man he ever knew, his father. Plus it's just about Joe Maddon's favorite time of year. Really, it's a photo finish: Christmas and the World Series.

He's the present under baseball's October tree, full of life, optimism and fun. New audiences smile as Maddon talks about his silver Mohawk ("It's just hair") or his dream to get The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, to play before a Series game at the Trop. Joe Maddon, unplugged.

"It's all good," he said.

True, postseason lights can wear on him. Maddon said he looked forward to some quiet time Tuesday night with fiancee Jaye "at my pad."

It's all good.

After Game 7 of the ALCS, Maddon sat on a couch in his office holding a half-swigged bottle of champagne. Everyone around him glistened.

He thought about his dad, who was also named Joe and who really was Joe the Plumber - C. Maddon & Sons Plumbing and Heating in Hazleton, Pa. Maddon's father died six years ago.

"Patience. I'm telling you, man, patience," Maddon said. "Patience and a positive way about him. He never had a bad day in his life."

Think the son didn't learn those lessons?

Think he didn't pass them on to his Rays?

"Here's the problem," Maddon said. "And again, I might be different. You read the front page. People are losing their homes. Read the front page today. We're trying to make a decision on who's going to be the next president. That is so much more important than this, it really is."

Who isn't happy for Joe Maddon? He changed the culture of losing, as promised. People who've worked for the Rays forever, big jobs or small, find their voices cracking when they try and thank him.

Maddon sat in his office after Game 7. It was well past 1 in the morning. Then he looked up and saw Rays head trainer Ron Porterfield. Porterfield has been with the team 12 years. The two men hugged. They wouldn't let go. You heard the sniffles and saw the tears.

It's all good.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT