As things stand right now, Joe Girardi is the answer to a trivia question that haunts millions of Yankees fans… “who is the manager of the last World Series-winning Yankees team?” I doubt any of us old enough to remember the ’09 team could have imagined this eventuality in our wildest nightmares.
For Girardi’s part, he has three distinct Acts to his Yankees career, each of which would earn him a spot on our birthday series. The sum of the parts is toweringly important. As a player, manager, and broadcaster,
he’s been an integral part of Yankee history for more than a quarter-century. Joe, wishing you a happy birthday is, in fact, “what we want.”
Name: Joe Girardi
Born: October 14, 1964 (Peoria, IL)
Yankees Tenure: 1996-99 (player); 2008-17 (manager); 2007, 2024-present (broadcaster)
Act I – Dynasty Veteran
Joe Girardi debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1989. A few years later, the nascent Colorado Rockies selected him in the Expansion Draft and he headed to the Mile High City. In November, 1995, Colorado dealt him to the Bronx in exchange for Mike DeJean.
Girardi started 124 games for the ’96 Yankees and, speed merchant that he was, stole a career-high 13 bags in pinstripes that season. He also happened to be behind the dish on May 14, 1996, the day Dwight “Doc” Gooden achieved baseball immortality with a no-hitter. For a detailed recap of that day, check this out. Afterward, Gooden remarked: “Joe Girardi is the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to.”
Girardi wasn’t done generating signature moments that season, either. Months later, in the chill air of October, he faced Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in the third inning of a scoreless Game 6 of the World Series. His triple to center field broke the scoreless draw, and he later came around to score the second of three Yankee runs in the inning. It was the only RBI of his playoff career and it catalyzed the inning that won the Yankees their first Fall Classic since 1978.
But wait. There’s more. In a reduced role, Girardi was with the Yankees for their ’98 and ’99 World Series wins, giving him three championship rings as a player. He wasn’t done catching baseball history, either. On July 18, 1999, encased in the tools of ignorance, Girardi shepherded future broadcast booth peer David Cone through a perfect game. It was the third perfecto in the incredible history of the Yankees.
Joe Girardi could have parted paths with the Yankees forever after 1999 and he still would have been an indelible part of franchise lore.
Act II – World Series Champion Manager
Imagine trying to follow in the footsteps of Joe Torre, who won four World Series in New York. Just a tad daunting. Girardi actually worked for Torre first, serving as the legendary manager’s bench coach in 2005 before being hired as manager of the Florida Marlins for the 2006 season.
Girardi lasted one season on the job before being fired, then winning NL Manager of the Year (seriously, the Marlins being a disgrace organization is a tradition best counted in decades). He spent 2007 working with the YES Network before being hired to replace Torre after the ’07 season ended ignominiously in a swarm of midges.
Though the Yankees missed the playoffs in 2008, the next season they charged back to the top of the baseball world. Girardi shepherded a star-studded cast that included CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, AJ Burnett, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Canó, Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Nick Swisher, among others, to 103 regular season wins.
In October, the Yanks dispatched the Twins and Angels before facing the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Six games later, Girardi’s club ended an unimaginable (at the time) eight-year championship drought, vanquishing the Phils.
Girardi and the Yanks never reached the top of the mountain again while he was manager. But ye gods, did they overachieve by wide margins. Girardi’s clubs regularly outperformed their Pythagorean expectations (+.040 win % in 2013, .041 in 2014, .034 in 2016). For those of us old enough to remember… those 2013 Yankee lineups were something else.
Taking the “Baby Bombers” to Game 7 of the ALCS against the infamous 2017 Houston Astros was not enough to save Girardi’s job, however, and the Yankees let him walk in favor of Aaron Boone. I remember being floored by the move. There was a ton of chatter about Girardi’s job security, but 2017 Kevin was sure that advancing to within a game of the World Series with a club no one expected to be there was enough to bring him back. 2017 Kevin was wrong.
Even if Joe Girardi had never played a game in pinstripes, his tenure as skipper would assure his place in franchise history.
Act III – Brilliant Broadcaster
Girardi spent several years working for the Cubs, and for MLB, as a broadcaster after leaving the Yankees, as well as managing the Phillies. But he came home prior to the 2024 season, joining the YES Network as an analyst. Since then, he’s been a fixture, lending his exceptional baseball IQ to Yankee broadcasts. I’ll argue the best three-man booth imaginable is Girardi, Cone, and Michael Kay.
As of now, this is the weakest Act of his Yankee career. But it might just be starting. Hopefully, we’ll be lucky enough to have Girardi in the booth for years to come.
Happy birthday, Joe Girardi. 17 years and counting without a World Series championship is “not what you want.” But you won three titles as a player and managed the most recent champions in franchise history. Your cred is unmatched. Happy birthday, Joe.
