PEACE, JOE

All season long I have excoriated Joe Girardi in this space.  I have repeatedly noted his numerous deficiencies.  That list included his incessant overmanaging, his tendency to tighten up in the clutch, his rampant insecurity, and his unwillingness to let the players decide the game.  I have called him incompetent, clueless, and just plain lousy.  And he was.

But his team won 114 games and brought the world championship back to New York.  So much as I would prefer another manager (come home Joe Torre!), I have decided to give Girardi a pass.  He has my permission to return next year.  He can wear 28 instead of 27 and attempt to repeat the victory of 2009.

And maybe he will succeed.  There certainly is sufficient precedent.  Casey Stengel managed the Dodgers and the Braves during the 1930s, and was considered a clown.  Yet when he came to the Yankees, he won ten pennants in twelve years, a record of success that may never be broken.   Joe Torre managed the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals without success, and was deemed a failure as a manager until he came to New York.  Indeed, when he was hired at the beginning of the 1996 season, the New York media referred to him as “Clueless Joe”.

So great managers are made, not born.  Maybe Girardi learned something this year.  Maybe his many failures made an impression on him.  Perhaps he can learn to relax and trust his players to win the game.  Certainly the pummelling he took after the Game 3 fiasco against the Angels should have taught him something.

Only time will tell.  I remain unconvinced that he will ever become a top flight manager; he just does not appear to have the right temperament.  But his team got the job done this year, and joy reigns in the Yankee Universe.

So peace, Joe.  Come back next year and prove me wrong.  I hope you do it.

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