Joe Maddon for President!

I know regular readers of my posts know I comment about football, the lifeblood of America, however, I do enjoy baseball, and this summer, the Tampa Bay Rays, have been one of the most exciting teams to ever watch play the game.

This team has been formed around the Manager, Joe Maddon, you know the guy with the unconventional glasses. People who live in and around the St Petersburg area and follow the Rays, should be wearing those glasses in homage to the work of art he has created this season. He should be a cult hero. It's August 19th, the Rays are 29 games over .500.

Last week the Rays departed on a 10 game road trip to the west coast, nursing a 3.5 game lead over the evil empire Boston Red Sox. They departed on August 6th, right after playing a day game against the Cleveland Indians, where they rallied in the bottom of the 9th inning from a 6-4 deficit to win the game 10-6 without recording an out and won the game on a walk off home run. Just as dramatic as they've played all season long.

During the 10 game road trip, the Rays lost their star left fielder, Carl Crawford, most likely out for the year. They lost their Rookie of the Year star 3rd baseman, Evan Longoria for an undetermined period of time. Finally, if those two losses weren't enough, the veteran closer, Troy Percival, pulled his hamstring (again). If those obstacles weren't enough, CF B.J. Upton failed to run out routine ground balls to 1st base on Friday, so Manager Joe Maddon pulled him out of the game Friday and then benched him for the next game on Saturday. The final, WTF moment was on Sunday, when was Maddon told pitcher Grant Balfour to intentionally walk former Ray, Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded, a move which has only been done one other time in the last 60 years in baseball history.

After you read the above paragraph, it would seem that the results of the 10 game road trip were not so good. Instead, the Rays went 7-3 on the road and gained a game on the Evil Empire RedSox.

Tonight, once again, the Rays rallied late in the game to beat the LA Angeles, 4-2 to grab a share of the best record in MLB.

Joe Maddon has done a masterful job with this club, taking them to heights never achieved by previous Ray teams. Playoffs? We'll see. We can hope, this is one damn enjoyable team to watch play baseball. It's going to finally be a fun September in St Pete, and not just because the Bucs regular season starts.

If Joe Maddon is not voted in by the press writers of America as the Manager of the Year, there is something seriously wrong regardless how the season plays out.