Zell's Pinstripe Blog

Joe Girardi was put in a spot last year where he was set up for failure. Not that he wouldn’t be much of a manager, but he was taking the job of a man who was a legend in New York. That guy’s name was Joe Torre.

Joe Girardi entered the 2008 season with high expectations. Mr. Torre brought the Yankees to the playoffs every year from 1996 until he left at the end of the 2007 season. He also brought four World Championships to the city of New York, and was still “let go”. Torre felt that he was being low-balled by management, and the pressure of managing was worse than ever, so he left holding a grudge. The funny part about all of it was that Girardi missed the playoffs entirely last year. It was a major disappointment and had the organization second-guessing what they did. Girardi had been criticized by fans all season long (including me) about the way he manages this team. Whether it be the way he manages the bullpen, overmanaging, the way he handled the media, or the way he set up his rotation…fans got on him.

In this World Series, Girardi gained some points in my book by the way he managed the team. I had a lot of complaints about him during the ALDS and ALCS, but I feel like he pulled the right strings for the most part in the Fall Classic. Not only did he do a better job of managing the ball club, but in the end he won a World Series ring.

-On another note, Girardi also helped out a woman that was involved in a car accident, a few hours after heading home from the stadium.

Police said Girardi pulled over to help after a woman lost control on a Westchester County parkway in suburban New York and crashed into a wall around 2:30 on Thursday morning.

Hours earlier, Girardi’s Yankees had won the World Series with a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Girardi told WFAN-AM radio that he was “really concerned” because of damage to the wrecked car. He said he had his wife call 911, then approached the mangled vehicle.

The woman driver wasn’t seriously injured, and police arrived shortly.

Let’s hope that this is a sign of good things to come from Girardi…