WHY I COULD CARE LESS IF GIRARDI IS A "REGULAR JOE"

I appreciate Art Stapleton from the Bergen Record and it is my opinion that his piece on Joe Girardi from the other day titled "Girardi's G.I Joe Image all Wrong" is cute...read HERE. Here's the thing though... I don't care about Joe Girardi being a regular guy. I want him to manage the Yankees and I like that image...anything he does outside of baseball to me is irrelevant.

Look, I’m not sure what it is, but I am partial to Joe Torre and always have been. Maybe that’s why my opinion on whether or not Joe Girardi watches Tommy Boy (from Stapleton's piece) and whether or not he like boot cut jeans is slanted to the negative. It’s actually not fair of me to be so dismissive of Stapleton’s piece because I read him every day. So just so I feel better about myself and instead of trying to make this a hit piece, I’ll concentrate on Joe Girardi. Shout out to Stapleton, you are the man.

This is my point; Joe Girardi is the manager of the New York Yankees. As much as I may like someone like Joe Torre more, I know Girardi’s our guy right now and I back him, no matter what. Let’s not forget that when he came to the Yankees to manage, he was still pretty new at the whole "manager gig." Sure, he was a former catcher and former catchers tend to have the right mindset for managing a team…I guess that brings me back to Torre again…sorry. But truth be told, I and many others wanted Don Mattingly managing the New York Yankees. It just seemed right. Mattingly was the greatest during his time in pinstripes and it just seemed logical that without a ring for Donnie, it was clear that getting him in that role in New York may have eventually won him a championship. That being said, it wasn't in the cards and he darted for the Dodgers and, while it’s still weird to see a Yankee hero in Dodger blue, I’ve adapted. But back to Girardi for a second. While Stapleton brings a new perspective to our skipper, I really don’t care about Girardi's “soft” side. His drill sergeant look while in the Yankees dugout is fine with me. The Yankees are about tradition and rules and class and Girardi, despite my feelings about him as manager, fits the role and fits it damn well... you know with "the Yankee way" and all that stuff.

Sure, Stapleton could have written about how Girardi is a tight ass manager who follows the rules, but it would have been too obvious so he chose the soft side of Joe to write about. Great idea… but I don’t care. Joe has 1 job, he needs to focus our team, make the right calls and win championships. I don’t want to know that he likes chess, or that he used to travel with the Grateful Dead or that he believes Unicorns provide positive energy. None of that matters to me as a fan of the New York Yankees…winning as a Yankee manager matters. That’s it.

So call me a tight ass and call me out of touch, but it's clear, that baseball is coming to the Bronx. The fans, including myself are getting restless and we're gearing up for wins in 2012. So while Art Stapleton is an amazing writer and did a hell of a job talking about Joe Girardi's soft side...I just want the touch side for my New York Yankees.... it's almost April 6th and I am truly excited.

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