Maddon to return to Trop to throw out Game 3 1st pitch

ST. PETERSBURG -- The World Series is coming back to Tropicana Field, and so is Joe Maddon.

Maddon, the longtime manager whose boldly innovative tactics and refreshingly different style led the Rays to their first American League championship in 2008, is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the World Series between the Rays and Brewers on Monday night at Tropicana Field.

The last time The Trop hosted the Fall Classic, Maddon was Tampa Bay’s manager. The Rays lost the 2008 World Series to the Phillies in five games, but the one game they won was the most recent World Series game played inside their home dome: Game 2, a 4-2 triumph on Oct. 23, 2008.

James Shields started the game, David Price finished it and the Rays’ RBIs came from pillars of their worst-to-first turnaround: B.J. Upton, Carlos Peña, Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria. And in the dugout was Maddon, who oversaw their transformation from the cellar-dwelling Devil Rays into the perennially contending Rays.

Maddon managed Tampa Bay for nine years, a tenure highlighted by the club’s run to the World Series followed by an AL East title in 2010, a miraculous AL Wild Card berth achieved in Game 162 in ’11 and another postseason appearance in ’13.

His appearance is sure to fire up the crowd, as he is fondly remembered for his transformational role in franchise history. He helped make the Rays relevant with a dash of analytically minded methods -- shifting, platoons, etc. -- and his unique personal touches, like eliminating formal dress codes, implementing themed dress-up trips and occasionally inviting animals and other acts into the clubhouse.

Overall, Maddon won 754 games and made four trips to the playoffs with the Rays, fewer than only Kevin Cash (994 wins and six postseason appearances), before departing to join the Cubs after the 2014 season. He immediately led the Cubs to the postseason in 2015 then helped break their 108-year championship drought in ’16. Maddon spent five years with the Cubs, then managed the Angels from 2020-22.

Maddon, 72, has been back to Tropicana Field since departing the Rays, of course. He managed the Cubs against the Rays at The Trop on Sept. 19-20, 2017, and did so for the Angels in June 2021. He still has some connections to the Tampa Bay area and weighed in on the club’s “Forever Home” ballpark pursuit in June in a guest column for MLB.com.

The Rays very obviously hinted at Maddon’s appearance on social media during Sunday’s World Series travel day, posting a picture of his signature black-rimmed glasses. Maddon himself teased his return in a recent WDAE radio appearance, when he was asked if he would be in attendance for the Rays’ first World Series games at Tropicana Field since 2008.

“All I’ll tell you is that I will be there,” Maddon said on WDAE.

Now, we know why.