There will be a lot of heavy hearts at Yankees Stadium for tonight's ALDS Game 4 as it has been announced that Jerry Girardi, the father of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, died Thursday at age 81.
As many Yankees fans learned over the years, Jerry Girardi suffered from Alzheimer's disease and resided at an assisted-care center in Girardi's home town of Peoria, Ill. Joe is the fourth of five children and he has credited Jerry for giving him a love of baseball and sports as they'd both listen to Chicago Cubs games on the radio while Joe was growing up.
From a 2009 MLB.com article on the father and son:
"I think about my father all the time," Girardi says in a room adjacent to his Yankee Stadium office, leaning back in a padded chair after completing a pregame interview session with reporters.
"I think about all the things that he taught me about hard work, and fighting through adversity, and toughness. I carry all the things that he taught me as a little boy growing up. He was always there for me."
So it is now Girardi's vow to be there for his father.
"You have to understand, it's not something they want to do, and our job is to take care of them," Girardi said. "That's the least I can do. My dad took care of me forever."
A recent Girardi profile that Gay Talese wrote in The New Yorker (subscription req'd) tagged along with Joe as he visited Jerry this season. Joe would routinely make the 16o-mile drive south to Peoria whenever the Yankees visited Chicago and the profile made clear that the two shared a special relationship.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Giradi will manage Game 4 against the Baltimore Orioles, but it's unclear what the future holds as far as any memorial service or funeral. Game 5 is scheduled for Friday night and if the Yankees advance, Game 1 of the ALCS is scheduled for Saturday night.
Make sure all your bases are covered this postseason ...
Follow @bigleaguestew, @KevinKaduk and the BLS Facebook page!
Related video from Yahoo! Sports:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Ibanez replaces A-Rod in ninth, hits two homers to lead Yankees win
• Kobe Bryant calls ex-teammate Smush Parker 'the worst'
• Adult coach accused of intentionally concussing teen football player
• Y! Finance: Baseball's 10 highest paid players
No comments:
Post a Comment