Joe Maddon: Tampa Bay Rays Manager Is the Most Interesting Man in Sports

Bobby Valentine is no Joe Maddon.

In fact, nobody compares to Maddon.

The Tampa Bay Rays manager is by far the most interesting man in sports. That is a very subjective title to give to someone, but it is a title that is most fitting for Maddon. He is cut from a different mold.

He does things his way no matter what people think.

Look at his open stance about allowing beer in the clubhouse after games. When issues arise similar to what occurred with the Boston Red Sox last season, most organizations, sports franchises included, go into a super hyperactive reactionary mode of caution.

It's not that serious.

Maddon looks at things through the eyes of logic and his conclusion is that adult aged men should be allowed to consume a beer after a hard day of work.

He is interesting besides the fact that he allows some hops and barley in the clubhouse.

From the themed road trips, changing hair color and style to the multitude of different batting lineups he utilizes from game to game he always leaves you wondering what is coming next. He is very hard to predict.

If you ever listen to his interviews he delivers some references in discussion that make you have to run to Google to fully comprehend. It is nothing for him to describe oil paintings, fine glasses of wine or even the depicting of frogs in conversation.

These are all reasons I believe Maddon is truly happy to be in Tampa Bay. The Rays allow him the latitude to comfortably be himself which some other markets would not be able to handle. Certainly making the playoffs and winning 90 games in three of the last four seasons makes the decisions easy for the Rays brass to allow Maddon to be Maddon.

I'm sure the Dos Equis guy doesn't normally drink wine, but when he does, I bet he calls Maddon for advice first.