Joe Girardi was hired as the Philadelphia Phillies manager after a process not nearly as tedious as the recruitment of Bryce Harper last winter.
The given wisdom (read, internet rumor) was that Joe Girardi was the Philadelphia Phillies favorite to be their new manager. The team was moving deliberately through the second round of interviews with three seasoned MLB skippers, and Phillies fans debated them all – Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker, and Girardi – as well.
Talk radio in the Delaware Valley had suggested for several days the new Phillies manager would be announced Oct. 24, an off-day in the World Series. This, undoubtedly, raised more than a couple chuckles among Fightin’ fans, and probably a few snorted comments along the lines of “as though that matters one way or the other.”
Some fans damned Showalter as a perennial also-ran – never mind the fact he’d turned several teams entirely around; some damned Baker as too old – 70 (maybe he should run for president); surely, some didn’t like Girardi just because he had beaten the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. (I’m betting those folks were the ones who spelled the former Yankees manager’s name “Gerardi” on Twitter.)
I decided to check late Oct. 23 on whether or not the team was tipping its hand.
Maybe they were. The very first link on the Phillies website was to a Todd Zolecki piece called “Girardi emerging as favorite in Phils’ search.” And much as expected, the article was chock full of such observations as, regarding Girardi’s interviewing skills: “He made quite an impression.”
Additionally, “the buzz inside the ballpark is that Philadelphia Phillies managing partner John Middleton prefers Girardi.”
Of course, Zolecki was careful to say that although Girardi was interviewed a second time Monday evening, he didn’t know if a job offer had been made.