Joe Girardi

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Joseph Elliot Girardi (born October 14, 1964 in Peoria, Illinois) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball and is the former manager of the Florida Marlins.

He played baseball at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Broadcasting career 3 Coaching career 4 Managerial career 5 External links

[edit] Playing career

He began his playing career in 1989 with the Chicago Cubs, staying with them through 1992. He played with the Colorado Rockies next, serving them through 1995. He was traded in 1995 to the New York Yankees for pitcher Mike DeJean. Girardi is best known as the Yankees' regular catcher during that period, earning three World Series rings in 1996, 1998, and 1999. In 1999, Girardi also caught David Cone's perfect game.

In 2000, Girardi left the Yankees and returned to Chicago, where he was named to that year's All-Star team, his only All-Star appearance. He played with the Cubs again in 2001. In 2003, Girardi played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

As a Cub, Girardi announced to the fans at Wrigley Field that the afternoon's game versus the Cardinals on June 22, 2002 had been cancelled, though he did not announce that the cancellation was prompted by Darryl Kile's passing. Girardi tearfully gave the news at 3:37 p.m. EDT, broadcast nationally on FOX: "I thank you for your patience. We regret to inform you because of a tragedy in the Cardinal family, the commissioner has canceled the game today. Please be respectful. You will find out eventually what has happened, and I ask that you say a prayer for the St. Louis Cardinals' family".

Girardi was a member of the inaugural Colorado Rockies team that began play in Major League Baseball in 1993.

[edit] Broadcasting career

After a spring training stint with the Red Sox in 2004, Girardi retired and became a commentator for the YES Network, and hosted the kids-oriented Kids on Deck. He received positive reviews for his abilities as a broadcaster, and was offered an expanded role on 2005 Yankee broadcasts. Girardi, however, decided to become a coach instead.

Girardi worked games 3-5 of the 2006 World Series for MLB on Fox as part of the network's pregame and postgame team, along with host Jeanne Zelasko and regular analyst Kevin Kennedy.

After fielding managerial offers for the 2007 season, Joe Girardi instead came to terms with the YES network to return to the broadcast booth for 60 plus games as a Yankees analyst, and co-host a new show on the network, Behind The Plate, with John Flaherty, also a former Yankee catcher. [1]

[edit] Coaching career

In 2005, after rejecting an offer to become the bench coach of the Florida Marlins with a guarantee to become the team's manager in 2006 (although he would eventually get that job anyway), he became the Yankees' bench coach. He even managed a game during a Joe Torre suspension, which the Yankees lost against the last place Kansas City Royals. Girardi remained the host of Kids on Deck in 2005, having shot his shows before Spring Training. YES promoted Kids on Deck during games by showing Girardi on camera sitting in the dugout during breaks in the game.

[edit] Managerial career

After the 2005 regular season, Girardi was named the manager of the Florida Marlins, replacing departed manager Jack McKeon. His first notable action as manager was to prohibit facial hair, which is a policy similar to that of George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees.

As a first-time manager for the Marlins, Girardi guided the team into surprising wild card contention (finishing with a 78-84 record) even though the team had the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, at approximately $14 million for 2006. Despite the success Girardi achieved in his first year as manager, he was nearly fired in early August when he got into a vocal (and visible) argument with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.

On October 3, 2006, the Marlins announced that they had fired Girardi, presumably because of his rift with Loria. At first, Girardi was thought to be among the leading candidates to replace Yankee manager Joe Torre after a bitter postseason loss, but Torre remained with the Yankees. He was also a candidate for the Chicago Cubs manager position, interviewing for the position just days after leaving the Marlins. With his playing experience in Chicago, he was considered a front-runner for the position even before the season was over. However, the Cubs chose to go with veteran manager Lou Piniella. Girardi took himself out of the running for the Washington Nationals managerial job shortly thereafter and will return to the broadcast booth for the YES network in 2007. For his job with the Marlins in 2006 he was rewarded with the National League Manager of the Year Award.

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Player Page at The Baseball Cube

Preceded by Jack McKeon	Florida Marlins Manager 2006	Succeeded by Fredi González
Preceded by Bobby Cox	National League Manager of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Present