Tampa Bay Rays’ Joe Maddon goes to Washington
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LAS VEGAS -- I ran into Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon, the former Angels bench coach, at the Bellagio Sunday night, and while we were chatting, a fan came up to him and said, ‘Nine Equals Eight,’ a reference to the T-shirts Maddon made up for his players during spring training last year.
After some small talk, the fan left, and I asked Maddon, who guided the Rays to the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies in October, if more fans have been recognizing him this winter. ‘Um, yeah,’ Maddon said with an impish grin.
That is just one of the perks of guiding a team from last place in the American League West in 2007 to the AL pennant in 2008 and of wearing those funky horn-rimmed glasses.
Another will come on Jan. 4, when Maddon and his new wife, Jaye Sousoures -- the couple was married in Fullerton on Nov. 8 and honeymooned in Rome, Prague and London -- will attend a White House dinner hosted by President Bush and first lady Laura Bush.
Maddon is supposed to be given more details about the event this week, but he’s been told the event will be an intimate dinner including five other couples from various walks of life. Former Angels shortstop David Eckstein attended a similar dinner as a guest of columnist George Will after the Angels won the World Series in 2002.
-- Mike DiGiovanna