I come to bury Joe, not to praise him.
The pineapples that managers endure live after them,
The wins are oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with Girardi...
First, let us discuss collateral damage: The Joe Girardi Show. In my fave episode: Joe and Meredith went to Frank Pepe's Pizza shop. It was incredible. They learned to make pizza. First, you pound the dough. "Fascinating," Joe said. Then you twirl it. "Wow," Joe said. Then you put the sauce on it. "Look at that," Joe said. Then you put the pizza in the oven. "I can't wait," Joe said. Then you wait. "Interesting," Joe said. Then you pull it out of the oven. "Looks great," Joe said. Then you eat it. "Delicious," Joe said. That's how you make pizza. Who knew?
The next guy had better know pizza.
Then there is the personal toll: Joe's feelings. I don't think they'll stay hurt for long, because Joe will get job offers, quickly. But I'm not sure he'll take them. Regardless of what he does, Joe will always be "former Yankee manager." I'm not sure he wants to work in DC or LA or even Chicago, his base. It will never be the same. Joe Girardi is a Yankee, true and true. He is a kind, decent man - a great man, in my opinion - who for 10 years tamped down clubhouse feuds, put a game face on some terrible lineups, and never broke under the pressure of a predatory 24/7 news monster, always thirsting blood. When that rookie tore up his knee in his first MLB game, Joe wept on the field; it's the only time we ever saw him cry. After incredibly tough losses - the pineapple still wedged up his canyon of heroes - he calmly answered trick questions from the Gammonites, and before the next game arrived, he would cordially welcome dear Suzyn into The Manager's Show, to chew upon the world as we knew it.
The next guy had better have a steel rectum.
There is the ugly reality of running the New York fucking Yankees: Nobody gets out alive. Sooner or later, the writers, the bloggers, the talkers and the fans all agree on one thing: It's time to go. We saw it with Joe Torre, whose dynastic run might never be repeated in our lives. Yet in the end, he simply had to leave. Too many pineapples. Too many twisted decisions that didn't go his way.
The next guy had better understand his ultimate fate.
Make no mistake: Joe Girardi needed to go. Everything ends, including Yankee managerial runs. Joe had become brittle and beaten, reduced to relying on "binders" more guaranteed to generate excuses rather than wins. For the last three years, his late summer bullpens were always shattered, reduced to one or two pitchers in his ever shrinking "circle of trust." When reporters would ask in the postgame show about a certain bad decision, Joe would hesitate before answering, and in those moments, you sensed a decent human being being crushed under the weight of a universe that was once a boyhood game of fun, and you wondered how long he could last. Running the Yankees is not making pizza.
The next guy had better be lucky.
If I'm right that Hal Steinbrenner is a mere abbreviation of his dad - thus, the Yankiverse will relive the era of Old George at an accelerated pace - we are now entering Hal's fire-the-manager phase. If so, the next guy is in trouble. He walks into an incredibly pressurized situation: Throughout the media, the Yankees are not only expected to win in 2018, but then to dominate for three or four more years. That's crazy. I can think of no worse situation for a new manager.
The next guy had better be lucky.
Joe was lucky. He lasted 10 years. That's 10 lifetimes. I hope he enjoys his rest. I will never forget the night he cried. In that moment, no Yankee manager was ever greater.
O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me.
My heart is in The Managers Show with Suzyn,
And I must pause until it comes back to me.
Duque and clones - "The next guy had better have a steel rectum." Never a better summary have I seen of your worlds to come .... and good luck to that next guy knowing all of you(r) tools will be on display probing and examining the all entry ways and making your own.
ReplyDeleteNo - you gatekeepers - I'm not trolling your site ... I've been visiting it and once in a while contributing to it since its inception - and knew El Duque when he was young, handsome, viral and partially sane.
But changing the subject to the real world of MLB ..... check this stuff out and jump on the Astros bandwagon in the effort to keep the baby blues - Cy Kershaw; red-ass cheater Chase Utley, Magic Johnson- and Weinstein's Hollywood fakers - from winning rings. (Mattingly would approve as he is on our side now):
______________________________________________________________
"My favorite non-SF Giant on the planet is Houston's lead-off hitter George Springer III - whose name-sake/grand-dad and wife Geri - were close mentors of mine as a young snotty nosed community organizer in our hometown of New Britain, CT ....
https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/08/03/george-springer-houston-astros
This George Springer was the 17 year old Panamanian who in 1950 came to the US by boat to try his hand at Baseball - described here. He would go on and lead the American Federation of Teachers and talk much truth to the few douche-bags in power in the '70's; '80's and '90s.
Here’s a 2014 SI piece predicting the 'Stros ascendancy to the series this week: https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/06/25/astros-george-springer-si-cover
And here is the piece in Monday's Business Insider on the 2014 cover story and interviewing the 2014 article's author:
http://www.businessinsider.com/sports-illustrated-houston-astros-world-series-prediction-2017-10
Read his final take with elation. He predicts your Yanks will be in the series very soon.
We invite your JuJu to join us tonight in Houston. Carry on!
ReplyDeleteI don't feel sorry for JoeyBinders -- but I don't/didn't hate him, either.
At some level, he's gone because:
a. Hal spent roughly (round numbers) $2 billion on players in 10 years, and got one championship. You'd think this would be a reason to fire Cashman, but Cash can't fire himself, I guess.
b. JoeyB made a number of questionable decisions. The best thing (my opinion) he did in 2017 was start Judge over Hicks coming out of spring training. You can credit him with great judgment -- or outstanding luck.
c. Watching the NYYs under his management could be exasperating. A lot of questionable in-game moves. No hit-and-runs, no squeeze bunts, etc.
d. You can't blame him for Greg Bird's missing-in-action routine for 4 months of 2017. On the other hand, you CAN blame him for the Game 2 Cleveland lack-of-backing for Sanchez. That was idiotic and left a sour taste. The reasons he gave for doing so were horribly stupid alibis.
Maybe it's NOT why he was fired, but it sure as heck will be the thing I remember about Joey and 2017.
e. Maybe it's safe to say that the manager "ought" to be changed every 10 years or so. I try to do that with my underwear.
f. I will be disappointed in whoever they hire if it's not someone YOUNG with something to gain.
g. I hope to heck that whoever it is does NOT wear #28. Maybe #98?
Sports Pope Mike yesterday was discussing how baseball managers are now looked upon. 2017...they must collaborate with upper management. Which is code for the GM and others make out the batting lineup, the rotation and who is available from the bullpen. Hey...the Mets have been doing that for years. No more high profile managers. No more Maddens, or Franconas, or Scioscias, or Girardis. The metrics determine everything. Managers are relegated to glorified babysitters to make sure everyone gets along. More people skills now not task masters. Callaway over in Queens will be running a hug-a-thon now instead of actual managing. It's a matter of time before managers will be connected to computers, carrying around iPads and having earpieces getting orders from upper management. Just like football.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's a lot cheaper than $4-5 Million/year to make it about "the Manager" instead of the metrics. Binders, generically, are being replaced with advanced metrics...get use to it. Stealing signs are going to be replaced with computer hackers. Every team will have one...
But wasn't being a manager, at least in the live-ball era, ALWAYS mostly about running a clubhouse?
ReplyDeleteI just mean, the on-field strategy of the game is not that complicated, not compared to football, or even basketball. Don't forget, when Bill Veeck was running the St. Louis Browns, and he let the fans vote on every strategic decision in a game—having them hold up signs saying "Bunt" or "Hit Away" or "Steal"—the Browns WON.
The really, really hard part is getting 25, overgrown, manboy millionaires to keep paying attention and not to turn on each other for 6-8 months, half of that time spent traveling all over the country. Not easy, particularly now that you don't have the ability to effectively fine or suspend them.
And as you say, Duque, in New York you also have to deal with a prima donna of an owner, and a bloodthirsty press.
I did love the tribute, Duque.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, they get to everyone eventually.
Casey Stengel won 10 pennants in 12 years, and came within a hairsbreadth of winning all 10 World Series. A pebble in the infield, some shoeshine on a baseball, and Sandy Amoros, or he would have done it. Plus he was the most entertaining man in sports, ever.
The Yankees fired him because they were afraid of losing Ralph Houk. Ralph Houk.
Poor Joe G. was not as misused. But yes, it is an unforgiving game, and an unforgiving town. If he makes the right call in Cleveland—if we maybe execute one of two plays in Houston—right now he's at the head of a team coming back into New York with a good chance to win it all, and a two-year extension for $5-6 million a pop signed and ready to go on Cashman's desk.
Them's the breaks.
Yesterday, Unsustainable BABIP said we should at least talk to Willie Randolph. So if I'm crazy, at least I have company.
ReplyDeleteGirardi seems to be a good man and a not-so-great manager. My wife can't stand him, so at least now I don't have to listen to her say "I can't stand him" during the postgame presser. Me, I just don't like him. Wound too tight. On "Mr. Robot" the other day, Joey Bada$$ had a great line--"He's wound up tighter than a cinchilla's asshole." I will not miss his tendency to use small-sample stats to excuse his decisions, and ignore larger-sample-size stats when making bad moves. His petulance with the press won't be missed, either, at least by me.
What kills me is how everyone and their sister has been pouring out the "oh poor Joe" crap the past 24 hours and lauding his managerial prowess. The vast majority of those types are people who look at the team's won-lost record over the past ten years and never even came close to watching game after game for one season after another. That's where you see the cracks, the mistakes, the misjudgments, the rigidity. The lousy treatment of Jorge Posada at the end of his career. The bullpen goofs. The inexplicable lineup decisions. The "resting" of one player after another just when they're getting into a groove.
I won't miss him. Pedrique seems like a viable choice, as does Thompson. This being the Yankees, I'm braced for them to do something stupid, though, just in case.
Please, just not another guy named Joe. I've had it with them.
I HEARD SPORTS POPE FRANCESA SAYING HOW MANAGERS BASICALLY DON'T DO ANYTHING ANYMORE.
ReplyDelete.......BUT WHAT ABOUT IN-GAME PITCHING CHANGES?
THAT MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ESPECIALLY IN TODAY'S GAME.
THAT, AND NOW, CHALLENGING THE UMPIRE CALLS IN QUESTION.
IN MY OPINION, GIRARDI SHOWED HE WAS WEAK IN BOTH AREAS.
MEDIA KEPT SAYING GIRARDI'S STRENGTH WAS IN USING HIS BULLPEN.
.......BUT I ALWAYS FELT EVEN WHEN WE HAD THE 3 HEADED MONSTER, GIRARDI NEVER SEEMED TO USE IT TO OUR FULL ADVANTAGE..... EVERY RELIEVER HAS HIS SOLE ROLE, AND IT SEEMED HE RARELY WAS ABLE TO USE ALL 3 ENOUGH (ONLY WHEN WE WERE LEADING)..... THE PROBLEM WITH GIRARDI, IMO, IS HE NEVER EVER USES ONE OF HIS PREMIUM RELIEVERS, EARLY, IN A TIE, OR CLOSE GAME, WHILE TRAILING.... THOSE EARLY, CRUCIAL (5TH OR 6TH INNING) MOMENTS WENT TO GUYS LIKE BLAKE PARKER, NICK GOODY, AND TYLER CLIPPARD....2 OR 3 BATTERS LATER -GAME OVER.
ON TOP OF THAT, SOMEHOW I FEEL BETANCES WASN'T USED RIGHT THIS SEASON, AND RUINED BECAUSE OF IT.
FIRST, GIRARDI KEPT CLAIMING HE DIDN'T WANT DELLIN TO BURN OUT, SO HE ONLY PITCHED ABOUT 23 INNINGS THROUGH HALF A SEASON. THEN SUDDENLY, HE WASN'T GETTING ENOUGH WORK.- RESULTS?.... DELLIN BECAME AN OUT OF SYNC MESS.... MAYBE GIRARDI'S USAGE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DELLIN LOSING IT?.....BUT, IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
WE CAN DO BETTER WITHOUT GIRARDI.
This is not a critical decision--the new manager will take his marching orders on overall strategy from Cashman's analytics people, thus thrusting the Yankees into the twenty-first century of baseball smarts for the first time. Kudos to all that.
ReplyDeleteSo let's get down to the real problem: when the hell are the Yankees going to replace Meredith Marakovits? I mean where did the find this droning giantess--at a casting call for a re-make of "Amazon Women on the Moon"? That oddly pitched monotone and sing-song delivery--don't try to listen without punching the "mute" button unless you have a candy bowl full of dramamine within arms' reach. And her "insights" are about as striking and hard-hitting as a Randy Levine PR handout.
If the Yanks must have a willowy blonde for on-field pre- and post-game filler between car commercials, why not go for someone unequestionably HOT--because no one is really listening to what these reporter-models are SAYING--it's all about the eye candy. I say make a full-court press for Heidi Watney, the MLB Network teleprompter reader who launched a million tugs at the Kleenex box among her aging male viewers.
WATNEY FOR ON-FIELD REPORTER! AMAZON LADY MUST GO! Who wants to start circulating the petition?
Rose City Wobbly, I've been watching the WS just to keep baseball alive for a bit longer. Didn't really care who won but you've now convinced me to root for the Astros. It's the association with creepy, predatory Hollywood that did it for me.
ReplyDeletewas somewhat shocked by your description of the long-ago duque. So many that were young and handsome back then also came up viral. Those were terrible times.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that Joe takes Meredith with him to Miami to work for the Marlins. Heidi is hot but I'd also settle for the return of Kim Jones. I was heartbroken when her contract wasn't renewed.
Kim's getting a little long in the tooth, but she's definitely easier on the eyes and ears than the Jolly Yellow Giant.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Megyn Kelly? Looks like she'll be looking for work soon. She can ask every player about his unique PED regimen and recommend a plastic surgeon for Kay.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for that Trump woman to get the spot. Ivanka or Poranka or Ankadanka .....the First Lady. You’ll know the name ( Melanoma?) She would bring haute couture to the sideline. And think about a pie facing or champagne dousing to a $4800 blouse !
ReplyDeleteJust for the record; I would like the job to be eliminated. It not only adds nothing, it also detracts substantially from a baseball fan’s life.
Stilted, predictable, generating banal, pre-programmed responses. Meeting the legal standards, no doubt, for yet another pod of commercials, by Jeep.
“ Gee , Aaron, how did it feel to hit that game winning homer?” Response; “ I am always happy to contribute any way I can. But it was my teammates who gave me that at bat. They were battling and getting good swings on the ball all game.”
Thanks, Aaron. “ You are welcome.”
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