Joe Girardi was driving earlier this month when he spotted a youth baseball game near his home in New York. He had to stop. Girardi, the former Phillies manager, stood in the outfield and watched the group of 7-and 8-year-olds.
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“I was a little worried about the kids,” Girardi said. “Because I coached my son when he was in coach pitch and the thing I hated to hear the most was the ice cream truck. Because I knew at that point that I lost him. The ice cream truck was there and I was a little worried about these kids, but they only had a half inning to go and they got through it.”
It’s been more than four years since Girardi last managed in the majors but the 61-year-old has yet to leave the game. He works as a TV commentator for Yankees broadcasts, was in the booth Sunday for the Yankees-Phillies game, and is sometimes the guy in the outfield hoping no one hears the ice cream truck.
He’s open to managing again, a job he did for 14 seasons. He won a World Series in 2009 with the Yankees against the Phils, was the National League Manager of the Year in 2006 with the Marlins, and guided the Phillies for two-plus seasons before being fired early in the 2022 season.
“If I had an opportunity, I would love to listen to that,” Girardi said. “But I’m happy with what I’m doing and if I never get an opportunity, I’m OK with that.”
Next month, Girardi will return to the dugout in South Philly to manage a team in the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Aug. 16 at Citizens Bank Park. The annual showcase brings together the country’s 60 best high school seniors, many of whom will be drafted next summer. Girardi will manage in his old ballpark.
“This is a thrill for me,” Girardi said. “This is a celebration of what they’ve accomplished so far, but it’s just the surface of what they can accomplish. I’m excited to see it because I’m amazed at the young talent that’s out there right now and how good these young players are and how physical they are.
“I’m excited to see this game and just be a part of it. These kids dream about playing in the big leagues and you’ll have a lot of first- and second-round picks from this game in 2027. They’re a lot closer than they think. It will be enjoyable for me one day to say, ‘Oh, I managed that kid four years ago and now he’s in the big leagues.’ That’s exciting for me.”
No regrets
Girardi’s broadcasting work reminds him of the one thing he does not miss about managing a big-league club.
“We got to the hotel here in Chicago at 2:15 a.m. and I don’t miss that,” Girardi said Monday before calling that night’s Yankees-White Sox game.
He approaches his TV work with the same detail he brought to the dugout. He was armed Sunday night with stats and data to support his analysis during the Phillies-Yankees game on NBC, sounding a lot like the manager who came prepared to afternoon sessions with reporters.
“I enjoy studying the other team and how to beat them,” Girardi said. “That’s what I love. I watch a ton of games. I watch the home broadcasts so I watched the Phillies for a week and picked up little things about their club and what’s going on. I just feel like that’s the best way to scout. And I dig into the numbers heavily. That’s what I love about it.”
The Phillies missed the postseason on the season’s final day in Giardi’s first year, a 60-game season in 2020 without fans that was delayed after the pandemic halted spring training. Girardi was hired because of his pedigree with the Yankees and wonders if things would have been different in Philly under normal circumstances.
“Yes, I do,” Girardi said. “Just that everything was so closed down and I felt like we couldn’t be people. We weren’t supposed to slap high fives with guys if they scored or hit a home run. I remember the time that Miami got sick and they were at our ballpark and we had to shut down for a few days. I drove into the parking lot and they handed me the thing to spit in. A guy in a Hazmat suit. Then I drove around after I spit and gave it to another guy out the driver side window. I was like ‘This is the life we’re living.’ It was just so strange.”
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“I don’t look back with any regrets. I enjoyed my time in Philadelphia.”
The Phillies fell short again in 2021 before Girardi was fired in June of 2022 after a slow start. Rob Thomson, Girardi’s bench coach, took over and guided the Phillies to the World Series. The Phillies fired Thomson in April and replaced him with Don Mattingly. He seemed to have the same touch as Thomson four years ago as the Phils inched toward first place before stumbling the last few weeks. Girardi knows how it feels to be the guy at home watching your team win without you.
“I felt bad for him,” Girardi said. “It’s hard because I know how much Rob put into it. They got off to a slow start and were playing two teams who were extremely hot in the Cubs and the Braves and he got let go. I feel really bad for him.
“It’s hard to just be let go. Because you give up so much to manage. You’re rewarded handsomely as a manager, but you give up a lot of family things and you dedicate yourself to the team and I always felt a huge responsibility for everyone because if we didn’t do well, it affected a lot of people. It wasn’t just me. It could affect my coaches, the front office, other people. It’s just hard to be let go because you put your heart and soul into it.”
Full circle
Girardi was in between managing jobs when he spent the summer of 2018 coaching his son’s youth baseball team. He drove his SUV to Perfect Game tournaments across Florida and up to Georgia while his son Dante folded the back seats to make a bed.
“I was driving and he was sleeping,” Girardi said. “It was so enjoyable for me because my favorite thing in the game of baseball is to see people have success, and I got the chance to do that. With these Top 60 players, these kids have had a lot of success. And I want to see them have some more.”
Girardi had already won a World Series as a player and a manager by then, but he learned something that summer managing teenagers.
“It was a term that I never heard before,” Girardi said. “Our manager said ‘We have a P.O. coming in.’ I’m going ‘What’s a P.O.?’ For us, that meant something different, right? But it meant ‘Pitcher only.’ They would fly in, pitch a game, and leave. It was like Roger Clemens.”
Dante Girardi, who played high school ball with Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter, will be on his dad’s coaching staff next month in Philly. It’s full circle, his dad said. The ice cream truck used to ruin his practice and now they’ll be in the dugout together. And the Perfect Game All-American Game reminds Girardi of an All-Star Game for college summer-league players he played in at Veterans Stadium in the summer of 1984.
Girardi’s Cape Cod League team shared the visiting clubhouse with the Cubs, who were in town to play the Phillies. The Cubs drafted Girardi two years later, and he reached the majors in 1989. His first manager was Don Zimmer, who he saw that day at the Vet. It all happened so fast.
“The one thing I want these kids to realize is they’re not that far away,” Girardi said. “In a blink of an eye, you can be an All-Star in the Major League All-Star Game. This is fun for me.”
Jim Bowden spent 16 years as a general manager with the Reds and Nationals before becoming an MLB analyst and commentator. And with the trade deadline approaching — Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. — he joined Phillies Extra to discuss the Phillies’ needs, some potential targets, and what it’s like to be a GM in the frenzied days leading up to the deadline. Watch here.
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