The two managers, of the Nationals and Rays respectively, have apparently become sworn enemies, just in the past couple of days.
It all started on Tuesday, of course, when Johnson instructed umpires to check out the glove of Rays reliever Joel Peralta. Johnson used to manage Peralta, so it probably came as little surprise to him when the men in blue found pine tar on the pitcher's glove. That led Maddon to blast Johnson after the game, using a few choice words to claim Johnson was breaking baseball's unwritten rules.
Well, Johnson wasn't going to let that go too easily. He was asked about everything again on Wednesday afternoon, and the Washington skipper had a classic comeback for Maddon.
"No, I didn't know him that well, but I thought he was a weird wuss anyway," Johnson said of Maddon, according to Nationals.com. "I understand where he's coming from. His job as a manager is to protect the players. Striking out at whoever he thinks is causing your players any grievance. So I understand where he's coming from. But he doesn't know me from a hole in the hill, or I him, for that matter.
"But I do know the rule book, and I do try to follow it. If one of my players is breaking, got caught, turn the page, try not to get caught."
Johnson wasn't exactly done there.
"I'm not speaking for the guru over there," he continued. "But as far as the league and as far as I'm concerned with, it's just one little issue."
Luckily, there's one more game in this series on Thursday night.
