Joe's the boss

One more piece of silverware for the Rays in this remarkable season. And the one that is, without question the most deserved. Ok, sure Evan Longoria was head and shoulders above the other rookies, and Carlos Pena was virtually automatic with the glove down at first base.

But if either of those two prizes had gone elsewhere, you could just about have understood it. I mean other first basemen played their position well, and other rookies did have good years. But the manager of the year award?

Well, there was nobody in baseball quite like Joe.

He took the Major League's biggest joke, and turned it into a confident, can-do, must-see team.

He took ten years of losing - and losing badly - and turned it into a World Series place.

He took the league's worst record, and turned it into top spot in the toughest division in baseball.

Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays, American League Manager of the Year.

I like how that sounds.

For once, I'm not going to ramble on about why he deserves it, and the miracles that he has performed for us this year. Instead, I'm going to quote this article from MLB.com by Mike Bauman. I don't think I could possibly put it any better:

This was the kind of managing job that not only deserves an award, but also merits a textbook. This was a life lesson on how to turn failure into triumph, and in a hurry. Yes, Maddon is the American League Manager of the Year, but even that may be something of an understatement.

Joe said before the season began that 9=8. And then went out and proved it. And you know what, now there is no argument that the boss who wears 70 is number 1.