JOE GIRARDI HAS NEVER LOST FAITH

Let's have a moment of honesty here. Just between you and I. One devote Yankee fan to another. Some might see what I am about to say as sacrilege, so bare with me. The Yankees should not be performing as well as they are. There is no logical explanation for how well the team is performing. With our injury outbreak, and our line-up often looking more like "Knockaround Guys," than the stars in pinstripes we are used to, it's unfathomable that we should be playing the way we are. All the "experts" counted us out. With each injury, even a few fans started losing some faith, but do you know who never lost faith? Joe Girardi!

Joe is looked at as a very by the binder kind of guy. It's his thing. He frequently consults it to help figure out what the right move is, statistically. He comes under fire by fans for it often. I'm probably in the minority here, but like it. He is a logical thinker, and I appreciate it. This season, his binder has gotten quite a work-out. With most of our starting line-up taking up residence on the DL, and "The Replacements" out on the field, it's a wonder Joe has gotten the team to do this well so far.

It's common knowledge that Joe likes to play around with the line-up. He considers all match-ups, and is careful to break-up his left handed hitters and pitchers. This season has given him a lot of room to switch up the line-up. Usually the match-ups look great on paper. If you look at the numbers, they should work at least 80% of the time. That's the thing with baseball. You put your best possible players out there and hope they do their job. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but you have to believe it will.

That's what Joe does. If nothing else, he has always said that he has faith in his team. He believes that they will do their absolute best. He makes the best plays possible, and hope that the guys perform. This isn't the first season that Joe and his binder have performed close to magic for us. The past few seasons, we were counted out early. And, with the exception of 2008, we have made it to the playoffs every year. Joe is clearly doing something right.

Yea, we just lost four straight games. Yes, it's frustrating. But you know what? We are still doing much better than anyone expected us to do. Whatever Joe is doing, even if it something as small as telling the guys that he believes in them, it's working. The guys are responding to it well and playing their hearts out. You may not like Joe, or you might be like me and adore him, but you have to admit that he does a hell of a job managing the team, with the odds stacked against us.

Erica Morales
BYB Senior Writer
@e_morales1804


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