Joe Maddon is a Ray of hope for Cardinals
They’re perennial losers, doormats, punch lines.
Or they were, anyway.
The Tampa Bay Rays shed those labels three months ago, on the way to their first World Series.
The Arizona Cardinals are shedding those labels too, one victory from their first Super Bowl.
And there might be no bigger Cardinals fan than Joe Maddon, the manager of the Rays. Maddon, who keeps a framed Cardinals jersey on the wall of his clubhouse office, said the Rays and Cardinals each have waged a constant battle against the skepticism that grew out of years of failure.
“The parallel I see is that everybody’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop -- for them to get hammered, to lose and get put in their place. They haven’t,” Maddon said.
“They beat a good Atlanta team, and they beat a good Carolina team, just like we beat the White Sox and the Red Sox in the playoffs.”
Maddon has left a good-luck message for Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt before each playoff game; Whisenhunt left similar messages for Maddon during the Rays’ playoff run. Maddon said the men never have met.
“I’d love to,” Maddon said. “I’m looking forward to that happening.”
Maddon, in Puerto Rico this week for the wedding of Rays General Manager Andrew Friedman, said he is scheduled to fly home Sunday and is not sure whether he will be able to catch the Cardinals’ NFC championship game live.
“I’ve got DVR for sure,” he said. “I won’t talk to anybody.”
The Super Bowl should be no problem, if the Cardinals get there: The game is in Tampa, 20 miles from Maddon’s office at Tropicana Field.
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