Philadelphia Phillies hire Joe Girardi to right their ship
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.
Like Sgt. Schultz, Everybody Knows NOTH-ing!
No one else seemed to know about that either. Corey Seidman, however, reported the Cubs would hire David Ross to manage their team, so, seemingly, only the Mets were in competition with the Philadelphia Phillies for Girardi. “Reading the tea leaves” (meaning, apparently, Twitter), Mike Rosenstein opined that Girardi to the Phillies was likely the best bet, but he wasn’t putting any money down.
There were still six teams looking for managers. Maybe Girardi, Baker and Showalter had more interviews scheduled. You know – secretly.
The Philadelphia area had to be on edge, right?
Correct. But that concern was about Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and that team’s defensive backs. Also, about five times as many people were crabbing about letting linebacker Jordan Hicks go (to the football Cardinals) as were those thinking about the Phillies.
Philadelphia sports fans will remain solidly disgusted with their baseball team until they start next season 10-0.
If Mr. Girardi is actually signed, I thought after reading Zolecki’s piece, a few folks will wish him well, but he needs to know coming in that, in general, his starting pitching stinks. If he signs without any believable assurance of the most serious effort possible to upgrade his rotation, he is far more a fool than he has ever seemed to me.
The sun was setting on the Philadelphia Phillies Oct. 23.
By 10 o’clock, nobody had signed anyone.
The Big Day?
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As the sun rose on Oct. 24, baseball fans found the Nationals had won their second straight World Series game, and the Philadelphia Phillies had not announced a new manager at dawn. Of course, this rarely happens because – despite their usual casual dress – MLB owners, presidents and GMs are important business executives who set their own schedules. No big deal goes down early in the morning.
Instead, Phillies fans were treated to the musings of retired Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira on their doorsteps; Teixeira had played for both Showalter and Girardi in Texas and New York, respectively. Predictably, he waffled, finding both of his former managers quite capable and detail-oriented, with Showalter getting the highest marks for handling young players and Girardi for intensity.
Perhaps Teixeira leaned ever so slightly toward Girardi for the Phillies – “It’s the city of Rocky Balboa, right? You want somebody who’s out there fighting for you.”
As the morning crawled along, news commentators insisted the president either was or wasn’t in quite a pickle, depending on your cable station. On the Phillies website, Girardi was still in the top home page photo.
In the lull, an article posted before dawn in the New York Post was discovered. It had to do with the Phillies principal competition for Girardi, the Mets, and (get this) the fact that if New York didn’t hire the former catcher, that would be against the wishes of (drumroll, please) a talk show host on WFAN.
Mike Francesca was quoted, apparently with a straight face, as follows: “I made it clear that I thought Girardi was their guy. Not that that was worth anything to them. I don’t think it was. Maybe it was. I don’t know. I really can’t tell. They didn’t react to it, and that was it.”
They didn’t react to it. Wow.
Waiting for a new Phillies manager was getting to be like waiting for Bryce Harper last winter.
Actual News
Then, shortly before 9:30 a.m. in the East, Zolecki tweeted that a source confirmed Girardi had accepted the Phillies offer: “BREAKING: A source says the #Phillies have hired Joe Girardi as manager. An announcement could come today.” NJ.com believed it, carrying the story minutes later, adding commentary that was fairly obvious except for a prediction Girardi might well butt heads with GM Matt Klentak as former manager Gabe Kapler did not.
Next. Cubs: David Ross not the right choice for manager. dark
There you go! The old fightin’ spirit was back. Perhaps the Philadelphia Phillies would finally live up to one of their nicknames for the first time in nearly a decade.
A New York Post headline mourned the fact the Mets had lost out on their “top candidate.”