Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon isn’t happy. This past weekend, the New York Yankees were in town and fans cheered retiring shortstop Derek Jeter more than the Rays themselves. This set Maddon off about the fans actually cheering for the Rays instead of their opponents. Tropicana Field was sold out for the first time since the home opener and Maddon would like to see that happen more often.
Maddon has a point about this even though the Yankees do play their spring training games in Tampa. If fans are going to come out to the ballpark, it would be nice for them to cheer for the home team. However, there were likely just as many people who came out just to see Jeter play one final time before he retires at the end of the season.
The Yankees will make one more appearance in Tampa next month. Hopefully the Rays will stay in the playoff race and their fans will show up at the game to overwhelm the Yankees fans in attendance. That would likely make Maddon very happy if his team actually got the overwhelming number of cheers over Jeter.
