Joe Maddon rips Tampa Bay Rays fans for cheering Derek Jeter

Fans across the nation have been joining in on giving Derek Jeter a big heartfelt send-off as he fades away into retirement, turning his final season into one big non-partisan cross-country Jeter party.

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And this is totally not cool according to Joe Maddon.

Joe thinks home fans should root for the home team at least as hard as they root for the legendary retiring guy from the rival team.

The Rays manager lashed out against Rays fans who cheered a little too vociferously for Jeter on Saturday as the home town team was being beaten by the Yankees (via NJ.com).

"“Yeah it’s great,” Maddon said. “It’s great that it’s sold out. And I understand that the people like Derek Jeter. But you’ve got to come out and root for the Rays, too, you understand. I mean, I totally understand what’s going on. But I’m not going to sit here and defend all of that noise in the Yankees’ favor in our ballpark. I’m not going to defend that. So we’re going to come out and root for the Rays. We’d appreciate that.”"

You can sort of understand Maddon’s frustration with the home fans cheering Jeter and not showing enough love for the Rays. Tampa Bay has fought all the way back from their dismal start, after all, and now have a legitimate chance to get back in the race.

What do the Rays have to do to earn the love of the fans at Tropicana Field? Does Joe Maddon have to put on a wacky clown suit and do a dance in the outfield? Cause he will totally do that. Joe Maddon will do just about anything that involves a wacky costume, I think we’ve discovered.

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