Frustration is in all of us. Sometimes when things don't go your way, you want to yell and scream and bitch and moan and walk away from the situation because you can't face the loss, or, you just can't formulate the words to express it. You feel attacked, piled on and ultimately it's overwhelming.
But as a leader, you can't walk away from your responsibilities, and when things crumble in front of you and you watch a team lose a game that probably should have been won, the best and most respectful thing you can do is stand there tall and take your lumps as a leader. And by lumps... I mean the reporters want answers for the fans and for their jobs, and you as the leader, the manager needs to take it!
Sorry... that's what being a leader is. Joe Girardi is no longer a leader. Joe Girardi showed no spine last night after that loss. That's because Joe Girardi is responsible for losing the last 2 games for the New York Yankees. Yes, the Yankees swing the bats, but when you play MUST WIN GAMES, you put in the top players to win those games. If you do all you can and still not win, it was a noble effort. But there isn't a noble anything lately.
There is no longer any excuse for going to a binder and trying to figure out match ups AND ONLY USING THAT BINDER TO MAKE YOUR DECISIONS IN BIG GAMES. When you do that and don't use your human "gut instincts"... it will burn you... and Joe got burned. I could see it in the first inning of last night's Yankee loss against the Blue Jays.
The Yankees weren't outplayed... Joe Girardi was. A binder will tell you to put the shift on when Edwin Encarnacion comes to the plate. But "gut instinct" will tell Gibbons to have Encarnacion to poke one the opposite way with a man on first.Gibbons is out managing Girardi. Gut vs. Binder— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 23, 2016
That set up a 2 run inning for the Jays and for me clearly right then, you knew who would win the game, because Girardi set his players up for failure. Bryan Mitchell was left out there to struggle. Larry Rothschild went out twice to talk and calm down Bryan but he didn't have it. HOW ABOUT YOU SEE THE STRUGGLE AND PLAY TO WIN, JOE. Remove the kid. Run through all your guys and TRY TO WIN THE GOD DAMN GAME! He didn't. He waited too long. He put in guys who probably didn't belong in at those certain moments... and in the end, he set them up for failure. Shame.
I was blown away by Joe walking out on reporters last night. It was JV. It was disgusting because what it told me is that he can no longer handle being the manager of the New York Yankees. If you live under a rock, here's LoHud to map out last night's spectacle:
"...The Yankees have to win every game that's remotely within reach, and Girardi's been aggressive with his bullpen lately, but he couldn't count on his offense to score three runs in the final two innings, and so he did not go to the top reliever available. This was not considered a close game.
Pressed on that point, though, Girardi grew agitated and declared the postgame interview over after two and a half minutes.
Here's the exchange:
- Joe, do I understand that you’re saying 3-0 is no longer considered a close game?
- 'No, but I’ve been throwing Adam multiple innings. Parker has been throwing pretty good for us. He didn’t tonight. I could have went to Adam and then maybe I don't have him tomorrow. We have some issues, in a sense. We don’t have a starter Monday. I’m just trying to piece it all together.'
It was as angry as I've seen Girardi during a postgame interview in probably two years. Hard to believe he was particularly surprised or offended by the question, but at this point Girardi's clearly out of nice ways to explain his team's down-the-stretch collapse."
"I'm done, that's it!", No Joe... answer the question! Or, here's a better, less professional one... "Why aren't you playing to win?"
Thanks to Chad Jennings for a great piece. I'm adding to it.
I'm disappointed in Joe. In fact, Joe needs to apologize to not only that press cluster, but to the Yankee fans who want to see him and the Yankees do their job. Sure it's frustrating for Joe, but that's the job, and as a leader, you need to lead.
No game is ever perfect, but as a leader and manager of a team... I expected more from Joe. The press has been professional this season despite the Yankee hiccups and setbacks, never once getting out of line. Joe lost hair and got gray. But as a Manager of the New York Yankees, that's what happens.
But here's the most telling part of all of this. Giving up. Joe gave up last night. Fans did too if you read Twitter. But that's not how life works, folks. We are taught at a very young age to work hard toward your goals. It will be hard and long and in the end, worth it... but you stick to it and things will happen.
As a team you do the same, TOGETHER. Joe Girardi showed some symbolism last night. He took the line of questioning from reporters personal and didn't make it about his team... and in the end, he not only walked out on the press, but walked out on the Yankees and us fans. It was wrong and kind of pathetic. But it should not be that way. You know how I know? Because Wally Matthews of ESPN New York said it best when he tweeted back a fan last night who gave up just like Joe Girardi....
You said it, Wally. Last time I checked, a team sticks together, be it reporters, fans or a team. All around, it's a group effort... a team effort and a leader sets the tone.Thanks, but you're not going anywhere yet. If I have 9 games to go, so do all of you https://t.co/0et1hrzt1D— wallace matthews (@ESPNNYYankees) September 24, 2016
And so I ask you, Joe... What happened to you?
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