Joe Maddon is NOT on top of the World

The Theorem is not a huge fan of "feel-good" stories. You know what feels good? Well, yeah, that. But I was originally going to say "winning the World Series." But losing it is cool too, I guess.

Martin Fennelly of The Tampa Tribune doesn't care about winning championships. He just likes feeling good. And he thinks that Joe Maddon is one swell guy.

Suffice it to say, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, just two hours into the first stop of his honeymoon, will go down as the first American League Manager of the Year to do a telephone news conference from Rome. That's in Italy.

[Exactly. The dude is like the Carmen Sandiego of managers. You know where Billy Martin went on his honeymoon? Coney Island. What a loser.]

He does it his way, doesn't he?

[Shockingly cavalier. I bet no other millionaires with 3-4 months to kill would ever think of going to Rome. At least not the one in Italy.]

First planned tourist stop in Rome? "The Vatican," Maddon said. "St. Peter's and right into the Sistine Chapel." The pope will probably ask for his autograph.

[That's ridiculous. Maddon is obviously waaaaaay too old for the Pope's taste.]

Believe it or not, [the AL Manager of the Year vote] was not unanimous. Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire received a first-place vote, presumably from someone who knew nothing of the first 10 years of Rays history.

[Martin is making a simple yet common mistake, in that he is confusing the Manager of the YEAR award with the Manager of the LAST TEN YEARS award. And I will leave the Gardenhire jab on the table for Nils to go insane about (and, oh, he will). Needless to say, I would have probably voted for Maddon as well, but voting for Gardenhire is certainly not outrageous by any stretch. The Twins overachieved big time, arguably as much as the Rome Rays did.]

Even when the Rays were losing and losing, he stayed firm and kept smiling.

[I'm assuming his paychecks continued to clear, right? And it's not like we're talking about a paper route here.]

And Maddon was always the life of the party, caring, thoughtful and fun.

[The Pope's ears just perked up ever so slightly....]

When a guy can quote Albert Camus and Albert Einstein, and he's talking about how you put a bullpen together, you know you've got something special.

[Great point, Martin. This entire article is something special. Actually, I think Camus put it best when he said, "Stupidity has a knack of getting its way."]

His hunches nearly always worked.

[Hey, remember that time in the World Series when you let Howell hit for himself just so you could let him (a lefty) throw sliders to Pat Burrell the next inning? The word "nearly" is now officially devoid of meaning.]

The Rays won.

[...the same number of 2008 World Series championships as the Pirates.]

Arrivederci, Joe!