tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Joe Girardi: The Consumate Company Guy

Had the opportunity to watch Joe Girardi's interview with Mike Francesa yesterday afternoon. What struck me, besides Francesa's softball questions, was how the Yankee manager came up with excuse after excuse about why his team didn't advance. "We were one sac fly away, one single away from moving on", Girardi quipped to the over indulgent Francesa. Of course, the Yankees would love us to believe that it was bad luck that eliminated them from advancing to the ALCS.(more on the general state of the Yankees tomorrow)

In his continuing defense of the punchless middle of his lineup, Girardi was emphatic in saying that you have to give credit to the Tiger pitchers. Well, I can agree with that if this was a one time occurrence of hitting ineptness on the part of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixiera and Nick Swisher. Girardi was asked about making changes to his lineup and the unfunny Yankee manager flippantly said that he could have batted "Gardy fourth." But Joe, what about moving Posada up into the 6th spot for the slumping Swisher??? Girardi will tell you that we scored 10 runs the game before and I thought we were clicking offensively. But what did Swisher do in that game to make you think he should not have been moved down to the 7th spot for Posada?? Moreover, how many times this year did this Yankee team score a boat load of runs only to come back the next game and barely scratch out a couple of runs??

And this is what bugs me about Girardi: he is all about the numbers. It drives me crazy when I see him go to his binder. While it's important to have an idea of how a guy has done against an opposing team or pitcher, you also need to have a feel for what's going on at the moment and Girardi is terrible at that. Posada was hitting .429 and you don't think it might have made some sense to move him up in the lineup?? Add in the fact that he had winning playoff experience.

Girardi was on the defensive when Francesa pressed him for an answer on what the manager thought was the reason why CC Sabathia struggled from August 1st into the playoffs. Girardi never answered the question and at one point Mike told Girardi "we just want to know what caused the dip in production." The weight issue was brought up but Girardi dismissed that by saying that if CC had won 25 games nobody would be talking about his weight.

But what was the ultimate company line was when Francesa asked Girardi to compare this team to the team of the late 90's where it seemed that there was always someone in the lineup to get the big hit. Girardi said it was unfair to compare the two teams because things are so much more even now because of the increased revenue sharing throughout major league baseball. Are you kidding me???? You have the highest payroll in baseball and you are going to tell me that because other teams are getting more money through revenue sharing that it is harder for the Yankees to win the World Series!!!!

While Girardi may be good at managing a bullpen, he's not good at having a feel for the game. I believe he has a difficult time dealing with the older players because he's not that far removed from when he was playing with them or against them. He is an uptight guy and that can influence your team. They say a team's personality is a reflection of their coach's personality. That may say a lot as one can only wonder what was going on in the minds of those players when Girardi was taking out pitcher after pitcher during Game 5. It gave off the feeling of desperation. Maybe that's why you can't get a fly ball with the bases loaded and one out. Maybe that's why Mark Teixiera looked relieved when he walked to force in the tying run. But it doesn't matter because Joe is the consumate company guy. Revenue sharing is why the Yanks can't win a World Series, please!!!