Rays manager Maddon impressed with fashion that Phillies win

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau: When the Phillies went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position in Game 1, that was the most fruitless at-bats with RISP for any team in any World Series game. Ever. And the Phillies still won.

All of this has left Rays manager Joe Maddon impressed with the red team - because of the other, little things they did to win. Maddon comes across as a guy who loves to see the game played correctly, who just loves this whole deal. For instance, he could both joke about and admire the fact that the spray chart told him to put the overshift defense on against the Phillies' Chase Utley in Game 1, and how - before he hit his two-run home run - Utley tried to defeat the shift with a bunt to the left side.

"Don't you wish his bunt would have gotten down in that first inning?" Maddon asked.

"You're just going off information . . . If you look at a spreadsheet, say, a spread chart and you notice that balls are not hit in a certain area, why do you cover it? And you see ones that are inundated with red lines, why don't you cover it more? And if that's the case, why not hit it in a different manner?

"So you utilize all this stuff to attempt to put your guys in the best position, to make a play based on the high-percentage chance of where he's going to hit the ball, and furthermore, make him look at it. And again, I'm serious, he put that bunt down last night, I was hoping it would stay fair."

The thing is, he was serious. This is a man as comfortable with Steven Covey and Dale Carnegie as he is with Baseball Prospectus. He is all about playing the game the right way and creating the right atmosphere - all of which shows up in big ways and small, including how the Rays dress for road trips.

They started the season traditionally. Then, one trip, Maddon decided to change it up and required everyone to wear a T-shirt featuring the work of tattoo artist Ed Hardy beneath their sportcoats. Then there was the trip that required a hat. Then the "express yourself" trip. They just had one of those during the ALCS.

And for Philadelphia?

"We're going khakis, with the blue blazer, and 'express yourself' afterward," Maddon said. "Going to Philadelphia, preppy kind of situation. I just thought I'd give the guys a taste of that." *