Am I the only one that misses Joe Girardi?
You know the saying “be careful
what you wish for, you just might get it?” That’s how I feel about Joe Girardi
not being re-signed. I was a very outspoken #FireGirardi member in the early
days of last summer when he insisted on pitching Tyler Clippard. It’s hard to
complain now with Aaron Boone because the Yankees have the best record in
baseball (by win percentage) and Boone has a good grasp of this young team all
while being a first-year manager. It’s hard to hate what’s going on and yet,
something’s missing for me.
According to Statcast, the Yankees
have the most bad pitches called strikes as of late-May (238) and yet, Boone
has kept quite a cool head. There was something about the fire in Girardi that
is dearly missed. Boone has 1 ejection so far in his young tenure with the
Bombers but it wasn’t half as energetic as even the tamer Girardi shouting
matches. Maybe I’m on a nostalgia trip since that video clip of the Mets’ former
skipper Terry Collins surfaced caused me to watch a full 31-minute compilation
of Girardi’s ejections. It did not disappoint. There are a few instances where
Girardi’s head looked as though it might actually explode and when he busts out
the classic ‘cover home plate with dirt’ move that Billy Martin would be proud
of, all bets were off.
LINK: Every Joe Girardi Ejection
A solid managerial ejection is a
fire starter for a team on its heels. The idea that risking ejection to fight
for your players and sacrificing yourself so your team can be heard is
something that not many sports have. These tight losses like last Wednesday’s
loss to the Washington Nationals could use that extra push over the hill from a
fired-up manager and it wouldn’t have gone unwarranted because there were quite
a few questionable balls and strikes called by home plate umpire Brian O’Nora.
There’s no doubt there’s something
working and working quite well with Boone and this young team but the question
lingers: What would the riled-up Girardi do with this team and his extra
enthusiasm over bad calls behind the plate? Hopefully the Yankees have another
long and fruitful relationship with Boone and there are plenty of ejections
that propel the team to victory and for great YouTube compilations.
Article by: Sean McDermott
Follow @seany_mcdermott
Follow @BronxBomberBall
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