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Maddon keeps up with times

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 4, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas - As a gaggle of reporters entered his office following Wednesday's loss at Toronto, Joe Maddon finished some typing on his phone and laid it down on his desk, looking proud.

"I think I just tweeted," Maddon said. "I think I did."

Yes, the 55-year-old manager has embraced the Twitter revolution — to an extent. Maddon this week began authoring short messages to be posted to the social networking service, even though he admits he still doesn't quite grasp the concept.

"Believe me — I come from Hazleton, PA, I grew up on 11th Street, I did parochial school and did all the old-school stuff on the way up," Maddon said Friday. "Now, I'm into technology, but to really want to know what other people are thinking all the time, I don't quite get that. So that's the part — once I wrap my mind around that, I'll be fine."

Like most of the millions using Twitter, Maddon is offering up 140-character bursts about whatever's on his mind at a given time. It's just that his mundane details tend to be along the lines of "Working on All Star Roster," which he tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Perhaps eventually he'll enlighten his followers on some favorite wine vintages or his top cycling routes around the American League. For now, he's still getting a feel for how everything works after Rays execs Brian Auld and Tom Hoof convinced him to take the plunge.

He doesn't input his messages directly to Twitter yet. Instead, he types up his musings and forwards them to staff members back at Tropicana Field for posting. That circuitous route explains why Maddon had to admit he doesn't actually know his username.

"What is my call sign, do you have any idea?" he asked Friday.

Yes, it's @RaysJoeMaddon, and in a medium that has been overrun by celebrity imposters, you can rest assured it's actually him.

"It's real," Maddon said.

Rotation roulette

The last time Matt Garza pitched at Rangers Ballpark, he turned in one of the best starts of his career, a complete-game, two-hit shutout last Aug. 15, so the Rays figured they'd give him a chance to repeat it.

Garza will start Sunday's series finale here as the Rays decided to skip Jeff Niemann's turn in the rotation. Niemann will be available out of the bullpen this weekend and likely will start next Saturday against the A's at home.

"If there's a way to get him an inning or two to keep him sharp, that'd be great," said Maddon, "but if it doesn't happen, that's fine, too."

Man of the month

After more than a decade on the outside looking in, the Rays have discovered the formula for American League Player of the Month winners. B.J. Upton took the honors for June on Friday, following up on Evan Longoria's win in April. Before that, the Rays had never had a Player of the Month in their history.

Upton hit .324 with five homers and 22 RBIs and stole a major-league-high 14 bases last month.

Upton said he appreciated the award, but he's most pleased to be contributing again after getting off to a slow start following offseason shoulder surgery.

"It feels good, but you can't dwell on it too long," Upton said. "Embrace it while you've got the chance and move on and keep trying to get better."

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