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Joe Girardi 27 |
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Full Name: Joseph Elliott Girardi
Title: Manager
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| Bio: |
At the Helm in 2008
Completed his first season as Manager of the New York Yankees in 2008, guiding the
club to an 89-73 record and a third-place finish in the AL East...Was one of only two managers (also the Angels Mike Scoscia) whose team did not
lose more than four consecutive games during the 2008 season...Under his guidance, the Yankees ranked second in the AL and fifth in the Majors with
a .986 fielding percentage (83E, 5,994TC) their error total was their lowest since
the strike-shortened 1995 season (74) and marked their fewest miscues ever in a
non-abbreviated season...After beginning the season 33-33, went 56-40 from 6/12 through the end of the season
to record the fourth-best record in the Majors over the stretch...Won his Yankees managerial debut on 4/1 vs. Toronto (lost his only previous Opening
Day as Manager in 2006 with Florida) became the 10th manager to win his Yankees
managerial debut on an Opening Day...Missed two games with an upper respiratory infection from 4/4-5 (bench coach Rob
Thomson served as manager)...Earned his 100th career managerial win on 5/22 vs. Baltimore (78 wins with Florida in
2006 and 22 wins with the Yankees in 2008) was ejected by HP umpire Chris Guccione
in the bottom of the ninth inning in the game was his sixth career ejection, third as
a manager, first as Yankees Manager and second as a Yankee (also 8/6/99 at Seattle
as a player) served one-game suspension (kicking dirt on umpire) issued by Major
League Baseball the following day (5/23) was also ejected in the bottom of the sixth
inning of 7/5 win vs. Boston by HP umpire Laz Diaz the Yankees won both games he
was ejected from in 2008 with walk-off hits...Was named the 32nd manager in club history on 10/30/07, becoming the 17th Yankees
manager to have played for the club and fourth former Yankees catcher to skipper
the team (also Bill Dickey, Ralph Houk and Yogi Berra)...At 44 years old, is the third-youngest manager in the Major Leagues, behind the
Washington Nationals Manny Acta (40) and the Cleveland Indians Eric Wedge (41).
Managing/Coaching Career
Was named the 2006 National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers
Association of America and the Sporting News guided the Florida Marlins to a 78-84
record in his first season as a Major League manager with the award, joined the
Houston Astros Hal Lanier (1986) and the San Francisco Giants Dusty Baker (1993)
as the only managers to win the honor in their managerial debuts at the age of
41, became the youngest manager in Marlins history (previously 47-year-old John
Boles in 1996) was named Marlins manager just two seasons after retiring as a
player prior to the 2004 campaign, marking the shortest time between being an
active player (2003) and making a managerial debut (2006) since 1987, when both
John Wathan (Kansas City) and Larry Bowa (San Diego) became managers after last
playing during the 1985 season...Became the first manager to improve his clubs record above .500 after falling at
least 20 games below the .500 mark during the same season the Marlins were
a season-low 20 games under .500 on 5/21 (11-31), but then went 62-41 through
9/12 to improve to 73-72 the only other Major League team to return to the .500
mark after falling 20 or more games below was the 1899 Louisville Colonels, who
were 22 games under at 16-38 and improved to 72-72-3 before finishing with a
record of 75-77-3...Managed Anibal Sanchezs no-hit performance on 9/6/06 vs. Arizona was the fourth no-hitter in Marlins
history and the fourth no-hitter that Girardi has been a part of, having caught two (Dwight Goodens on
5/14/96 and David Cones perfect game on 7/18/99) and being a teammate in one (David Wells perfect
game on 5/17/98) according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Girardi became the first person since Jeff Torborg
to both catch and manage a no-hitter Torborg managed Wilson Alvarezs no-hitter on 9/11/91 with the
White Sox after catching nohitters by Sandy Koufax (perfect game, 9/9/65), Bill Singer (7/20/70) and Nolan
Ryan (5/15/73)...The 2006 Marlins club featured 22 rookies, 21
of whom appeared before 9/1, with 11 making
their Major League debuts Florida hit a thenclub-
record 182 home runs, featuring four
players with 20 or more homers and 10 players
with double-digit home run totals became
the first National League team that season to
have five different pitchers record 10 or more
wins, accomplishing the feat for the first time
in franchise history rookie pitchers accounted
for 50 of the Marlins 78 wins, the most rookie
victories for a Major League team since the 1952
Dodgers (51)...Made his coaching debut in 2005, serving as
bench coach and catching instructor on Joe
Torres New York Yankees staff assisted in
guiding the Yankees to a 95-67 (.586) record
and the American League East title...Appeared in 39 career postseason games as
a player, most among all current American
League managers among Major League
managers, only Chicagos Lou Piniella (44) and
Cincinnatis Dusty Baker (40) appeared in more postseason games as a player.
Playing Career
Played parts of 15 seasons as a catcher in the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs (1989-92 and 2000-02),
Colorado Rockies (1993-95), New York Yankees (1996-99) and St. Louis Cardinals (2003) was a member of
three World Series Championship teams in New York (1996, 1998-99) and played in a total of six postseasons
with the Cubs (1989), Rockies (1995) and Yankees (1996-99)...In 1,277 career Major League games, batted .267 (1,100-for-4,127) with 454 runs, 186 doubles, 36HR and 422RBI,
finishing with a .991 career fielding percentage while throwing out 27.6% of potential base stealers batted
.184 (21-for-114) with 2 triples and 1RBI in 39 career postseason games...Saw his first Major League action in 1989 as the Cubs Opening Day catcher was the first rookie catcher to
start a season opener for the Cubs since Randy Hundley in 1966 was selected to Baseball Digests All-Rookie
Team played in four games of the 1989 NL Championship Series against San Francisco, recording one hit...In 1990, played his first full big league season stole eight bases, the most by a Cubs catcher since Gabby
Hartnetts 10 in 1924 ranked second among NL catchers in assists (61) and threw out 33.3% of baserunners
attempting to steal (38-of-114)...On 8/7/91, in his first game back after missing nearly four months with a strained lower back, suffered a
broken nose in a home plate collision with the Phillies John Kruk...Was the expansion Rockies starting catcher in 1993, batting .290 (90-for-310) with 3HR and 31RBI in 86
games was selected by the Rockies with the 19th pick in the Expansion Draft from the Cubs...Established career highs with 8HR, 55RBI and 63R in 1995 with the Colorado Rockies recorded 4H and
4R on Opening Day vs. the Mets (4/26) hit his first career pinch-hit homer on 8/6 off San Diegos Trevor
Hoffman...Acquired by the Yankees on 11/3/95 from the Rockies in exchange for LHP Mike DeJean hit a career-high
.294 with 2HR and 45RBI for the World Series Champions stole 13 bases, marking the highest total among
big league catchers and a record for a Yankees catcher stole home on the front end of a double steal on
4/11 vs. Kansas City, becoming the first Yankees catcher to steal home since Jake Gibbs on 7/13/1968 had
two triples during the 1996 postseason, including a run-scoring three-base hit off Greg Maddux in Game 6
of the World Series at Yankee Stadium...Was the catcher for Dwight Goodens no-hitter on 5/14/96 vs. Seattle in his final season as a player with the
Yankees, caught David Cones perfect game on 7/18/99 vs. Montreal had a career-high 7RBI on 8/23/99 in
a 21-3 victory at Texas, going 4-for-6 with 2 doubles and 1 triple...Rejoined the Cubs organization in 2000 and earned his first and only trip to an All-Star Game that season in
Atlanta as a replacement for the injured Mike Piazza (did not play) when he homered on 5/2/00 vs. Houston
off Jose Lima, it was his first Cubs home run since 5/8/92 only one player, Billy Jurges, had a longer span
between homers with the Cubs Jurges hit a home run on 8/2/1938 and 8/27/1947 a span of over nine
years...Recorded his 1,000th Major League hit on 5/27/01 vs. Milwaukee off RHP Jimmy Haynes a seventh-inning,
game-winning, two-run double...Was one of the Cubs co-captains in 2001 and 2002...Played his final career regular season game on 9/28/03 at Arizona with the St. Louis Cardinals his single in
the ninth inning off the Diamondbacks Edgar Gonzalez gave him 1,100 career hits.
Personal/Miscellaneous
Graduated high school in 1982 from the Spalding Institute (Ill.), where he was an All-State selection in
baseball...Graduated from Northwestern University in 1986 with a bachelors degree in industrial engineering was
a three-time Academic All-American and two-time All-Big 10 selection at catcher was elected to the
College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame on 7/1/07, becoming the first former Major Leaguer to
be enshrined also received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Northwestern University
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences...Established his own charity, Catch 25,
which is dedicated to providing support
to families and individuals across the
country who have been challenged with
ALS, Alzheimers, cancer and fertility
issues Catch 25 provides assistance
through scholarships, financial aid and
charitable donations and is devoted
to serving children and adults that
may not otherwise have the financial
and emotional suppor t they may
need his father, Jerry, suffers from
Alzheimers see www.joegirardi.com
for more information...Was the recipient of the Ben Epstein
Good Guy Award in 1997, presented
annually by the New York chapter of the
BBWAA was honored at the 2007 Lou
Gehrig Sports Award Benefit Dinner...Joined New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Roberto Clemente, Jr.
in placing the first pitch on 7/29/08 at
the 3rd Annual Gracie Mansion Tee Ball
Game hosted by the Mayors Office,
Little League Baseball and the Roberto
Clemente Foundation, the game featured five teams, one from each New York City borough and promoted
youth exercise as well as team-building sports...Was a guest of honor and keynote speaker at Remember When, Remember Now benefit on 11/19/08,
helping raise funds for his charity and Alzheimers research was joined by Michael Kay and CBS Jim Nantz
at the event which took place at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City...Following his retirement as a player in 2004, Girardi joined the YES Network as an analyst and won an Emmy
Award for hosting YES Kids on Deck series in 2007, he rejoined YES, working as an analyst on Yankees
broadcasts also worked with FOX during the regular season and postseason Girardi gained broadcast
experience as a member of ESPN Radios team for the 2003 National League Division Series...He and his wife, Kim, have three children, Serena (9), Dante (7) and Lena (2).
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