Rays reveal former Angels manager Joe Maddon for World Series Game 3 first pitch

It's been a long time since the Los Angeles Angels and "World Series" were put in the same sentence in a manner that wasn't self-deprecating or deragtory, but the Tampa Bay Rays appear to be offering Halos fans our salvation.

After going down 2-0 in the Fall Classic to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Rays are pulling out all the stops as the series heads back to Tropicana Field. They've tabbed former manager Joe Maddon to throw out the first pitch prior to Game 3, bringing the three-time Halos skipper back to the place where he won two of his three Manager of the Year awards.

This will be the first time since Maddon guided the Rays to their first-ever pennant that the World Series will be played in Tampa Bay -- the 2020 edition was played at a neutral site (Globe Life Field) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He's a fitting selection for a first-pitch honoree.

Rays' Joe Maddon celebration is a haunting reminder of Angels' recent managerial failures

Though it's obviously not quite the same thing, this will be Maddon's first World Series "appearance" since 2016, when he managed the Chicago Cubs to the most famous World Series win of all time. That title remains the crowning achievement in his legendary coaching career.

Of course, Angels fans will remember that, after being ousted from the Windy City, the hope was that he'd turn around the culture in Anaheim. That never came to pass, as Maddon lasted less than three full seasons before stepping down. The organization went just 130-148 during that stretch -- add his two separate stints as the Halos' interim manager in the 1990s to the equation, and Maddon owns a 157-172 record with the franchise.

Since then, coaching instability has been the name of the game for the Angels. Four skippers -- Phil Nevin, Ron Washington, Ray Montgomery, and Kurt Suzuki -- have taken up the mantle since the middle of the 2022 season, all of whom ended their tenures with winning percentages below .450.

The most recent of the bunch, Suzuki, lasted just one season before being jettisoned. He was hardly set up for success, but a 62-100 record proved to be an impossible sell for a new ownership group that also needs to decide upon a new front office regime this offseason.

Hopefully, the new voices running the show in Anaheim will be able to finally find the Mike Scioscia we've been waiting years for. If not, Maddon's first pitch might be the closest we get to the World Series for a while longer.

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