FanHouse Chasinggarz

Tampa Bay Rays mananger Joe Maddon is still wearing those eyeglasses that make him look like Lizzie McGwuire's mom, but he has made an important change by dying his silver hair black. The change was made in preparation for a themed road trip, and because he totally hates his Mom. The story is being reported by MLB.com, ESPN, and the Associated Press because it is... news? Dusty Baker buys a sweatshirt, news at eleven!

Anyway, Maddon's hair is now as black as Tampa's chances to win the AL East and it becomes my job to report this in a way that does not involve any charming, Entertainment Weekly-quality human interest wordplay.

Joe Maddon is in favor of the change at the top of the Rays on-field leadership (d'oh!) in tonight's Dugout, after the jump.

When did the Rays sign J.J. from Good Times?

The Tampa Bay Rays (neé Devil Rays) are the biggest question mark in the AL East. We know that Boston is going to do well. We know the Orioles are going to be terrible. We know the Yankees are going to seem unstoppable when the season starts, fall into, like, third place sometime in early June and make everybody freak out, the Steinbrenners are going to start threatening people, and they'll be fine and at the top of the division by the end of the year. We know the Blue Jays will exist (?). The Rays, though... who knows what the Rays are going to do.

Tonight's Dugout, which might be about the Blue Jays (I don't know), is after the jump.

Who are the Tampa Bay Rays? How did they surpass the Yankees and Red Sox this year? Are you able to appreciate the Wilco reference in the above title? How did they parlay the second-lowest payroll in baseball into a World Series berth?

I don't know as much about this team as I should, but I do know that they play old-style, hardscrabble, hard-nosed punch-fisted baseball. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they live their lives as off-the-grid survivalists, utterly independent of societal trappings

Today's Dugout is after the jump.