MIAMI (AP) -Yankees manager Joe Girardi was walking in the tunnel at the Florida Marlins’ stadium on Friday when he bumped into a surprising face.
It’s not every day he runs into the man who fired him.
Chatting like best friends about 3 1/2 hours before the first pitch between Florida and New York, Girardi and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria spent about 20 minutes talking. The chummy conversation eventually moved into the Yankees’ clubhouse.
“We talked about a lot of different things. We talked about scheduling and rain, since we both have seen a lot over the last couple weeks, traveling, his art business and his daughter,” Girardi said. “So we talked about a lot of different things.”
This was a much friendlier chat than the last time they spoke publicly at Land Shark Stadium.
ia boiled over into a confrontation from the dugout. The owner berated an umpire while sitting behind the plate during a game that August. From the dugout, Girardi asked Loria to stop.
He didn’t.
Loria angrily left his seat and confronted Girardi after the game during a 90-minute clubhouse meeting. Girardi would later say that he tells his players not to argue with umpires, so he wasn’t pleased to see Loria doing it.
Girardi said the two have since patched things up.
“We have a good relationship,” he said.
Girardi’s stint in Florida was brief.
He was fired after only one season despite eventually winning NL Manager of the Year honors.
Five hours after Girardi was fired, the Marlins announced that he would be replaced by Fredi Gonzalez, who is now in his third season. The two said they’ve never talked about the firing, with Girardi in his second season at the Yankees helm.
“I think he’s a solid person every time I talk to him and ran into him in some places,” Gonzalez said before Friday’s game. “In ’07, he did a couple of games (broadcasting), we sat down and talked about the team but nothing (about his Marlins days). It was strictly professional. I think Joe is a terrific guy. I really do.”
Girardi’s lone season in Florida was filled with disagreements with management.
spring training, Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest clashed with Girardi over personnel decisions. During the second half of the season Beinfest was rarely seen in the clubhouse or manager’s office.
But on the field, the Marlins showed vast improvements.
The Marlins had baseball’s youngest team and lowest payroll at $15 million in 2006, but Girardi led them to a 78-84 record, and they were in contention for a playoff berth until a late-September fade.
“Awesome experience for me,” Girardi said. “Learned a lot about managing, learned a lot about all the different things that it takes to be a manager, all the relationships, all the different people, all the different hats that you have to wear.”
Add A Comment