Execution To The Max
Any excuse to link to Fire Joe Morgan is a good excuse – and the upcoming series with the Rays is just such an excuse.
Jose Mota loves him some “aggressive”, “National League style” baseball.
National League-style baseball: “Wow. So exciting.”I have heard and seen the expression so many times from announcers and in print, referring to a small handful of American League teams that seemingly exploit an opponent’s weaknesses in a different manner than the typical A.L. team.
But to me, there isn’t a clear distinction between so-called league “styles.” The leagues are more alike than the average fan realizes.
Several A.L. teams have adopted the so-called N.L. approach. The Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays are at the top of the list.
“It’s just downright a more alert way of playing the game from the offensive side: Execution to the max,” Rays manager Joe Maddon told me, and I couldn’t agree more.
And FJM’s response:
Do you think Rays manager Joe Maddon put up an inspirational poster of like Yosemite’s Half Dome in the clubhouse with the inspirational phrase “EXECUTION TO THE MAX” written in an inspirational font?I do.
This. Is. AWESOME.
I’m never going to be able to watch the Rays, or read about the Rays, or see the words “Tampa Bay Rays” in print again without automatically thinking, “EXECUTION TO THE MAX!” This quote should always be said really excitedly, either in a creepy corporate seminar voice – or in a valley girl accent. Either option works equally well.
DAMN YOU, RAYS! DAMN YOUUUUUU!!!
(angrily shakes fist at TB dugout)