Column: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has to make it all work

2/12/09
joe girardi
By Max J. Dickstein

Column: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has to make it all work

Photo credit: Game Face

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, third from right, answers questions as he sits in the dugout at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training baseball home of the Yankees, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. The team's pitchers and catchers are scheduled to arrive Friday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By Max J. Dickstein

Yankees manager Joe Girardi faced the media’s microphone phalanx for the first time this season in Tampa, Fla., following a staff meeting on Thursday.

One reporter suggested that Girardi, approaching the middle of a three-year, $7.8 million contract to hold perhaps the premier job in American sports, might be fired if the reloaded Yankees miss the postseason for the second straight year.

“I don’t necessarily think about those things,” said Girardi, according to Newsday reporter Ken Davidoff. “But as you stated the question, you’re probably right.”

Girardi probably doesn’t receive enough credit for leading the Yankees to an 89-72 record last year despite major injuries to ace Chien-Ming Wang and inspirational leader Jorge Posada, as well as Phil Hughes and Hideki Matsui. Still, the Yankees’ record left them dragging eight games back in the AL East.

Girardi is a strong tactician whose ego management is improving (he helped convince Alex Rodriguez to come clean about steroid use).

While much is new in the Bronx mix, Girardi need not reinvent himself to make it all work. Soft-spoken and reasonable, he can absorb the pressure and lead from the dugout.
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Column: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has to make it all work

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