Weathering the Storm: Girardi Is Now the King Fish
By John J. Buro | Pro Baseball Central - NYSportsDay.com | on Monday, June 26 2006

BRONX, NY – The manager gathered a group of reporters after the game between the New York Yankees and his Florida Marlins was rained out after one-half inning. At the time, Florida was ahead, 1-0, because Miguel Cabrera had drilled a Shawn Chacon pitch off the rightfield wall to deliver Hanley Ramirez.

The game, which was delayed one hour and 27 minutes at the start, was ultimately postponed after Chacon threw 18 pitches. The umpires, who were aware of rain in the forecast, stopped the game after a one hour, 17 minute wait, although the skies were clear at the time.

So, Joe Girardi stood against a concrete wall outside of the Marlins’ clubhouse and spoke of his team’s immediate future.

“I’m surprised we even started,” the rookie manager said. “The umpires thought there was a window, so they tried to get it in. At least five [innings]. That’s the risk with interleague play, or whenever a team only visits once.

“We’re both off Thursday, but no one wants to do that. We like our off-days,” Girardi smiled. “That’s why there is a lot of pressure to get these games in.”

There was a pitching change on the horizon, because he didn’t want to push Josh Johnson, his prized rookie and Saturday's scheduled starter, for the rare Sunday day/night doubleheader that was now planned.

Before Johnson [6-4, 2.04 ERA, 59 Ks in 57.1 innings] –who did throw in the bullpen prior to the game- could release a warm-up pitch from the mound, the tarpaulin had covered the field. As such, Girardi announced that a roster move will be made between Sunday’s twinbill, allowing Florida to recall a pitcher, presumably from the Albuquerque Isotopes, their Triple-A squad, in the Pacific Coast League.

“[Johnson] was completely warmed, so it will not be him,” he said, adding that the promising righthander will pitch Monday against the in-state rival Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Yankee fans not only missed seeing the 6’7”, 22 year-old phenom, but were somewhat deprived of their annual revisitation with the past. This day happened to be the 60th Old-Timers Day -and the 50th anniversary of Don Larsen’s perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers- but rain eradicated the intended three-inning exhibition.

“It was great to see guys who are old-timers -and guys who I don’t even consider old-timers,” said the 41 year-old Girardi, who was part of three championship teams during his four seasons here. “It was really neat to run into Coney [David Cone] and Straw [Darryl Strawberry] and Jimmy [Leyritz].”

But the manager could not fully appreciate the nostalgic moment. There was work to do instead. “I would have participated but, as I’m managing, there are things that I worry about a little more. However, Bobby [Meacham, whose six-year career with the Bombers spanned 1983-88] did a great job in my absence.”

As a result of realigning his pitching rotation, Girardi –who became Joe Torre’s second bench coach within two years to defect [following Willie Randolph] and has instilled a George Steinbrenner-type policy prohibiting facial hair-, was now faced with one more headache.

It wasn’t enough that the Marlins decided to have their second ‘fire sale’ within the last ten years; through this salary dump, the New York Mets, in particular, have greatly enhanced their line-up with the acquisitions of Carlos Delgado and Paul LoDuca. The constant attempts to relocate have, no doubt, created some instability within the organization [ownership has now shifted its focus to Hialeah, a predominantly Cuban-populated city in Miami-Dade County, after negotiations with San Antonio officials have stalled].

Rain, which has wreaked havoc in the northeast, has forced Florida to reschedule several games, creating three doubleheaders over the next 36 days [in addition to the pair against the Yankees, the Marlins will play - weather permitting, of course - two against the Mets at Shea Stadium on July 8 and a pair against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 30, creating a rare five-game in four-day stretch at Citizens Bank Park]. Subsequently, the organization’s woes away from the white lines were manifested through an abundance of inexperience between them.

As a result, Florida lost 31 of its first 42 games. But, since a 3-zip defeat to the Devil Rays on May 21, the Marlins had won 20 of 27 before the Yankees slowed them during a 6-5 thriller on Friday evening.

Girardi, who expressed “no concerns whatsoever” because the organization has made great trades in the past to rebuild, noted, “We have pitched much better [during this run]. We were pitching well before it, but lost a few games on walk-off homers. Now, it is more a combination of our starters going deeper in the game and our bullpen shutting down the opposition.

“It was only a matter of time before we started winning games, ‘cause we were close so many times.”