Chuckles and Huffs - Joe Girardi
I could spend my day avoiding social media, and
avoiding a Yankee game. I could go straight to the Joe Girardi report and
easily know who won the game before Bob Lorenz guides us through the night's
highlights. If you play poker against Joe Girardi you shouldn't have a hard
time taking his money. He's as obvious as the day brings light.
When he wins it's nothing but a mouth full of
braces. His cheap attempts at comedy are followed by the shameless chuckles at
his own jokes. It's good to be alive. He will emphasize and repeat anything you
want. Nothing can bring him down. He's bright eyed as he looks around the crowd
of reporters. He might even close his eyes while answering a question, scanning
his brain ever so thoroughly for the best way to convey his thoughts.
When he loses there is a huff in his breathing as
though he is trying to exhale the weight of the world. Is our economy going
through another recession? No, but the Yankees lost another game. He will cut
you off mid question with a snap answering what he assumed your question was
going to be as he lays back on his chair breathing heavy and looking angry as
though his wife forgot to pack his asthma pump.
Maybe I have a weird sense of humor but I just have
to laugh. Better to have laughed and moved on than to sulk at a Yankee loss.
Better yet, I feel like Girardi has grown on me. I'm not saying he's the best
that ever lived but it's not like I'm looking at Buck Showalter and wondering
why the Yankees didn't push for him. Not anymore at least!
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "I'll be
back" to Stone Cold Steve Austin's "And that's the bottom line",
it's been simple sentences such as those that have become cultural phenomenon
throughout the years. Amongst the many things Girardi has accomplished in his Yankee
managerial career, his catch phrase is that of which will live on even after he
is no longer managing the Yankees.
"Hey Joe, what do you have to say about the
slump that the Yankees are in?" Joe: "It's not what you want." "Hey Joe, looks like you might
lose McCann for a few days, what's your contingency plan?" Joe: "It's not what you want." "Hey
Joe, my apartment burnt down and I just lost my job, any
advice?".......wait for it......Joe: "Well first off, did you have
any renter's insurance? (Chuckles) What can I say? It's not what you want."
Simple yet effective. There must be some marketing
genius out there with a t-shirt design.
Besides all the hoopla you have to admit Girardi
has done an exceptional job with what he's been given. As the manager of the
Yankees he owns a respectable record of 682 wins and 514 losses for a .570
winning percentage. By the time his current contract expires he will have tenure
of 10 years as manager. That’s not easy to do in baseball and as history has
taught us, even more difficult to do in the Yankees organization. Of course he
hasn't had the success of his predecessor but I'm not even sure Joe Torre could
have gotten more out of those teams.
I especially learned to appreciate Girardi while
watching the postseason last year. As Ned Yost led his red hot team through the
playoffs, there were many questionable moves Yost made. If there is one thing
that annoys me about Girardi, it is his conservative ways. But I could not help
but think of him in the postseason and know he would not have managed like Yost
did. This is how I know I have truly accepted him and why I have faith in the
future of the Yankees.
Article by: Danny Valentin
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