from Yankees Magazine

February 1996

by Mike Klis

It is not known exactly when Joe Girardi completely got over the fact he had been traded. His answering machine, however, indicated it was no more than a week.

On November 30, Girardi, starting catcher in all three years of the Colorado Rockies' existence, was swapped in the New York Yankees for minor-league pitchers Mike DeJean and Steve Shoemaker. A week later, Girardi was in Florida for players-union meetings. The message he left behind for those who tried reaching him at his suburban-Chicago home heard a snippet of Frank Sinatra's, "New York, New York."

"We've definitely turned the page," Girardi said, referring to himself and his wife, Kim. "It's time to move on for us. We understand things like this are going to happen in baseball and we look at it as a great opportunity. Going to New York, it's a great city. I look at where I've had a chance to play Chicago Cubs, tradition; Denver, expansion; and then the Yankees, probably the greatest tradition of all. I've been pretty lucky".

The Yankees are getting a good catcher whose skills include some that are not easily apparent. Girardi is an intangibles guy. The reason why general manager Bob Watson and manager Joe Torre went after Girardi is because they wanted a strong defensive catcher who can handle a pitching staff.

No active catcher is better qualified to handle this role than Girardi. In his seven major-league seasons, his primary responsibility was to stroke pitching staffs that had to contend with hitting-friendly home ballparks, first Wrigley Field in Chicago, then Denver's Mile High Stadium and Coors Field.

"Joe understands that the most important job for a catcher is to get the most of your pitcher," said former Yankee catcher Ron Hassey, who coached the Rockies catchers the past three years. "That includes pitch selection, blocking balls, throwing runners out, holding runners on, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of hitters, knowing the best approach a pitcher should use to get that hitter out. Joe's as good as there is at those things."

In Girardi's rookie season in 1989, he was the catcher who leaped into the arms of closer Mitch Williams the day the Don Zimmer-managed Cubs clinched the National League East title. In 1992, Girardi was the catcher who was usually assigned to catch Greg Maddux in the first of his four consecutive Cy Young Award seasons.

During Girardi's four-year Cub career, he had thrown out 35.8 percent would-be basestealers.

It was these credentials that prompted the Rockies to select Girardi away from the Cubs in the first round of the 1992 expansion draft. When the Rockies began playing their first games a few months later, Girardi was faced with the monumental task of coaching a mostly inexperienced and largely inept pitching staff through a 162-game schedule, half of which were played at the pitcher's nightmare known as Mile High Stadium.

Girardi can catch but he can't throw the pitch. The Rockies compiled a major league-worst 5.41 ERA in 1993. On the road, however, the Rockies had a respectable, by expansion standards, 4.97 ERA and the team won 31 of its final 52 games. Last season, when Girardi caught 125 games and the Rockies set an expansion record by reaching the playoffs in just their third year, the Rockies' 3.71 road ERA was the second-best in the NL.

"The most important thing about Joe is he's a winner," said Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer.

When the Yankees acquired Girardi, most people assumed Zimmer was behind it. A distinct trend has developed between these two.

Zimmer was Girardi's first big-league manager with the Cubs. Zimmer was then bench and third-base coach for the Rockies from 1993 until he temporarily retired last June. When it was announced Zimmer had ended his retirement and joined the Yankees as bench coach, it hardly seemed a coincidence that the Girardi trade occurred a few days later.

Zimmer, though, said Watson and Torre, who spent their previous years in the National League with Houston and St. Louis, respectively, did not confide in him about a possible Girardi trade until well after the idea was put into motion.

"I had very little to do with it," Zimmer said. "The only thing that happened after Joe (Torre) told me they were talking to Geb (Bob Gebhard, the Rockies general manager) was they asked me what I knew about Girardi.

"Number one, I told them he caught for me as a rookie when we won a championship. One thing about Joe Girardi, if he's not able to play, a manager or a coach or a trainer don't have any thought in their minds: Is this guy hurt or isn't he? Because if he's not playing, you know he's hurt. He likes to win. He's a very, very unselfish player. In other words, you don't have to tell Joe Girardi to try and hit the ball to rightfield with a man on second and nobody out. He's going to try and do that. He's had a few injuries but he's a tough guy.

"Joe's a pretty good hitter, too. It's not like he's a .220 hitter. He's a .260, .270 hitter and sprays the ball around."

Girardi should not have to apologise for his hitting. He is a career .269 hitter who posted career-highs last season with eight HRs and 55 RBI. He is a contact hitter who frequently smokes the ball on a line. He is strong enough to hit more homers, though he is cursed in the power department by a textbook level swing.

Girardi realises, however, that many Yankee fans were disappointed upon learning Mike Stanley, who averaged .290, 30.3 HRs and 74.7 RBI the past three seasons, would not return. But given a chance, Girardi is confident he will prove he is an integral part of an offense. In his previous three years with the Rockies, he was manager Don Baylor's best hit-and-run specialist and bunter. And he is a good defensive catcher who has thrown out 32.5 percent of would-be basestealers in his career.

"If I go and do my job, then they'll be happy with me," Girardi said. "From what I understand, they called me to be a leader and handle the pitching staff."

No one will ever question Girardi's effort. He is a classic overachiever, which happens to be a family trait. The fourth of five children raised by Gerald and Angela Girardi in Peoria, IL, Joe jokes that he is somewhat the black sheep of the family. His two oldest brothers, John and George, are internal medicine doctors. His sister Maria is a math professor at the University of South Carolina. His youngest brother Jerry is an accountant. Joe Girardi graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in industrial engineering, then became a ballplayer. Though he is only 5-11, has little power and virtually no speed, Girardi is entering his eighth full season in the majors.

"I never expected to play this long," he said. "I mean, you just try to get there and when you get there you try to stay there every year. The opportunity that I've had to travel and live the life of an athlete, it's just been really rewarding. God's blessed us in a lot of ways and we're very thankful for that."

As you may have noticed, when Girardi is asked about himself, he often begins his response with 'we', not, 'I'. Joe Girardi is Joe and Kim Girardi. They met in the final quarter of his senior year at Northwestern; her junior year. Two months later, Girardi was off playing in the minor leagues for the Cubs.

"I had to trick her," he said. "I had to tell her I was going to be around. I wasn't going to all these places in the minor leagues."

The Girardis' plan on starting their own family soon, which is only natural considering they are pushovers for kids. During their time in Denver, the Girardis visited the Children's Hospital about once a month and were even more regular at a Christian foster home near Coors Field.

"Not that I feel that I'm obligated, but we have two feelings," Girardi said. "One, God gave me a lot of gifts and talents which has blessed me with a high salary. God doesn't call for us to horde that money. And number two, we believe every child deserves the same chance that we had. I think what's most important is every child should feel loved. The need to feel loved is more important than any financial gift."

The Girardis promise to remain active in the New York community, particularly with organisations that benefit underprivileged youth. Socially, they are genuinely excited about playing in New York.

"Oh yeah, I mean they have great Italian restaurants," Girardi said. "The culture in New York, they have theatres, which Kim loves, and there's just so much to do there. As a player, you like to sometimes get away and be able to hide and sometimes in the smaller cities it's harder to do that. But in New York, we'll just fit in as another Italian couple."

Professionally, Girardi is confident the Yankees will represent another highlight in his already solid major-league career. Initially, it was not easy when he learned he would not be finishing his career in Colorado, where he frequently played in front of 70,000 fans his first two years at Mile High Stadium and then crowds of 50,000 every game last season at Coors Field. He was one of the most popular players, evidenced by the fact he had his own TV show in Denver.

The Yankees, however, offer something the Rockies may never have -- tradition.

"Those are the real Pinstripes I'm going to be wearing," Girardi said. "That's something every player dreams about."