It would have been crazy for anyone to seriously think that when Joe Girardi took over for Joe Torre prior to the start of the 2008 season.
The ultimate “Joe Cool” that was Torre was now being replaced by “Fiery Joe”, with most of the Yankees brass under the somewhat laughable impression that the team needed extra motivation and a “kick in the pants.”
Girardi was expected to light a fire under veteran players who already set in their ways. Most of them were already over the hill and others simply just underperformed.
Then there was the case of injuries. Lots of them. It started with Alex Rodriguez missing month, then Jorge Posada missing most of the season and the final blows came when Chien-Ming Wang had his season ended rounding third base and coming up lame as his foot gave out, and Joba Chamberlain would miss a month with a shoulder aggravation in Texas.
However, in between all that, you saw the day in and day out operations of man who appeared better suited to be an Army general than a baseball manager. The football mentality that he tried to instill on his team failed miserably. Of course, having pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy starting 40 percent of your games in the month of April would have given any manager problems. Yet, here was a man who was going to attempt to bring a full style makeover to a club that he played for during the old championship days.
What he may have skipped over in the managerial manual was that there was more that went into the game than simple in-game tactics. How some people glossed over this still makes no sense to me. Girardi was never a calming influence when things got skittish last year. Instead, Girardi took the losses even more personally and wore his emotions on his face; never giving off a sign of reassurance that everything would work themselves out.
From eliminating junk food in the clubhouse and replacing them with healthier foods, to tirades that only seemed to make the anti-Torre crowd happy that “emotion” was finally being shown, to his dealings with the media, it all seemed very rocky. For a man that garnered Manager of the Year just two seasons prior, it was as if he was in the deep end of the pool for the very first time.
This certainly wasn’t Miami anymore.
He could get away with that kind of stuff when no one is paying attention and there is no extensive media coverage. Employing those same tactics with the Yankees was a recipe designed for failure.
I remember saying this last year when describing Girardi as a manager early in the season:
Over the first 25 games of the year, when the team lost, it was decisive. The wins in that time followed a very simple formula:Great start by a pitcher for six or seven innings.Joba for the eighth.Mo for the ninth.Not very difficult, right? Any manager with a wired brain that has played MLB for XBOX probably could have managed the team on those nights.
As the season went along, we saw his skills as a communicator revealed. It turned out he didn’t have any. His working with the media was often times uncomfortable, unworkable, and as the losing and injuries mounted, filled with tension.
When Hughes was not pitching well in April, two hours before the game, Girardi emphatically intimated that he was staying in the rotation. Two hours later, he was headed for the disabled list, missing the next three and a half months with a rib fracture that Hughes claims he got while sneezing.
It was an outright lie. The only thing he could do was plead ignorance.
When New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman pressed Girardi on details of a team meeting he had with his players, the manager snapped.
In Minnesota, he sat left fielder Johnny Damon down the day after he went 4 for 5 in a Yankees win. Girardi claims he told Damon of the change. The Yankees went on to lose 4-0 that night. When Damon was asked about being sat, he said he wasn’t told by the manager he was sitting. When Girardi was then made aware that Damon said he wasn’t aware, the New Joe had to uncover another excuse to make up for another communications gaffe.
Yet all of these instances were nothing compared to his handling of Robinson Cano in 2008. Cano had underperformed the entire season and had consistent lapses in the field on defense. Anyone with two eyes could notice what was going on and yet Girardi continued to deny this problem. It was only after the team had been close to eliminated in September, it was then where the manager took a stand and sat him on the bench for several games.
Why do it then? It made zero sense. He had already gotten away with pulling that nonsense for the previous five months without any reprimand. Now you are going to play “tough guy”. It was disingenuous to say the least.
By the way, did I mention that the Yankees did not make the playoffs last year?
Girardi got through poor communication, lack of offense and few healthy pitchers to amass 89 wins. Now, with the team being fortified with significant pitching acquisitions (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett) and offensive thump (Mark Texieira), the Yankees now amass the best one through five staffs in the Major Leagues, critical for getting through the new meat grinder that is the AL East.
The offense should improve from last year because it cannot be any worse. An offense designed to score nearly 950 runs did not even score 800. More nights seemingly overmatched, than clawing for every run they could muster.
This is why it is on Girardi to blend this team together. He cannot say he does not have the talent.
The players are there. The offense and pitching will work off each other.
The pitching is there.
Last time I looked, Mariano Rivera is still closing games.
Getting to the American League Championship Series should be a minimum requirement. After that, roll the dice and take your chances.
Simply put, its Girardi job to win…or else.
Girardi was expected to light a fire under veteran players who already set in their ways. Most of them were already over the hill and others simply just underperformed.
Then there was the case of injuries. Lots of them. It started with Alex Rodriguez missing month, then Jorge Posada missing most of the season and the final blows came when Chien-Ming Wang had his season ended rounding third base and coming up lame as his foot gave out, and Joba Chamberlain would miss a month with a shoulder aggravation in Texas.
However, in between all that, you saw the day in and day out operations of man who appeared better suited to be an Army general than a baseball manager. The football mentality that he tried to instill on his team failed miserably. Of course, having pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy starting 40 percent of your games in the month of April would have given any manager problems. Yet, here was a man who was going to attempt to bring a full style makeover to a club that he played for during the old championship days.
What he may have skipped over in the managerial manual was that there was more that went into the game than simple in-game tactics. How some people glossed over this still makes no sense to me. Girardi was never a calming influence when things got skittish last year. Instead, Girardi took the losses even more personally and wore his emotions on his face; never giving off a sign of reassurance that everything would work themselves out.
From eliminating junk food in the clubhouse and replacing them with healthier foods, to tirades that only seemed to make the anti-Torre crowd happy that “emotion” was finally being shown, to his dealings with the media, it all seemed very rocky. For a man that garnered Manager of the Year just two seasons prior, it was as if he was in the deep end of the pool for the very first time.
This certainly wasn’t Miami anymore.
He could get away with that kind of stuff when no one is paying attention and there is no extensive media coverage. Employing those same tactics with the Yankees was a recipe designed for failure.
I remember saying this last year when describing Girardi as a manager early in the season:
Over the first 25 games of the year, when the team lost, it was decisive. The wins in that time followed a very simple formula:Great start by a pitcher for six or seven innings.Joba for the eighth.Mo for the ninth.Not very difficult, right? Any manager with a wired brain that has played MLB for XBOX probably could have managed the team on those nights.
As the season went along, we saw his skills as a communicator revealed. It turned out he didn’t have any. His working with the media was often times uncomfortable, unworkable, and as the losing and injuries mounted, filled with tension.
When Hughes was not pitching well in April, two hours before the game, Girardi emphatically intimated that he was staying in the rotation. Two hours later, he was headed for the disabled list, missing the next three and a half months with a rib fracture that Hughes claims he got while sneezing.
It was an outright lie. The only thing he could do was plead ignorance.
When New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman pressed Girardi on details of a team meeting he had with his players, the manager snapped.
In Minnesota, he sat left fielder Johnny Damon down the day after he went 4 for 5 in a Yankees win. Girardi claims he told Damon of the change. The Yankees went on to lose 4-0 that night. When Damon was asked about being sat, he said he wasn’t told by the manager he was sitting. When Girardi was then made aware that Damon said he wasn’t aware, the New Joe had to uncover another excuse to make up for another communications gaffe.
Yet all of these instances were nothing compared to his handling of Robinson Cano in 2008. Cano had underperformed the entire season and had consistent lapses in the field on defense. Anyone with two eyes could notice what was going on and yet Girardi continued to deny this problem. It was only after the team had been close to eliminated in September, it was then where the manager took a stand and sat him on the bench for several games.
Why do it then? It made zero sense. He had already gotten away with pulling that nonsense for the previous five months without any reprimand. Now you are going to play “tough guy”. It was disingenuous to say the least.
By the way, did I mention that the Yankees did not make the playoffs last year?
Girardi got through poor communication, lack of offense and few healthy pitchers to amass 89 wins. Now, with the team being fortified with significant pitching acquisitions (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett) and offensive thump (Mark Texieira), the Yankees now amass the best one through five staffs in the Major Leagues, critical for getting through the new meat grinder that is the AL East.
The offense should improve from last year because it cannot be any worse. An offense designed to score nearly 950 runs did not even score 800. More nights seemingly overmatched, than clawing for every run they could muster.
This is why it is on Girardi to blend this team together. He cannot say he does not have the talent.
The players are there. The offense and pitching will work off each other.
The pitching is there.
Last time I looked, Mariano Rivera is still closing games.
Getting to the American League Championship Series should be a minimum requirement. After that, roll the dice and take your chances.
Simply put, its Girardi job to win…or else.
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The real question is: are the 2007 New York Giants the biggest sports fluke of all time? Most of America seems to think so...
And most of America would be wrong.
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