Batlle of the two Joe's
Posted On Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at at 8:56 PM by Francis Isberto
Many have been asking if Joe Torre remained with the Yankees, will he get more wins than incumbent Yankee Manager Joe Girardi.
During Joe Torre's era with the Yankees (1996-2007), the Yankees reach the post-season each year and won ten American League East Division titles, six American League pennants, and four World Series titles. Torre presently ranks in MLB managerial wins (2,246 wins).
Torre's trademark is winning games. There is no doubt that Torre is a great manager but many people don't see that since Torre is accustomed to winning that somewhat his managerial and coaching skills have become predictable.
He doesn't play small ball that often and is not comfortable in manufacturing runs. Torre just rely on the power of his offense and suffers heavily if the offense is not there.
This might be the reason why Senior owner George Steinbrenner offered a lousy contract to Torre at the end of the 2007 season.
The Yankees need a new change, a new blood, a new era....
In comes Joe Girardi. Girardi's first managerial experience came with the Florida Marlins. Girardi guided the team into a surprising Wild Card contention (finishing with a 78-84 record) even though the team had the lowest payroll in MLB (around 14 million for 2006).
Joe Girardi was rewarded for his achievements with the Marlins in 2006 with the National League Manager of the Year Award and the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award for the National League.
Girardi also served the Yankees as their regular catcher from 1996-1999 and earning three World Series rings. Girardi caught Dwight Gooden's no hitter and caught David Cone's perfect game in 1999.
Girardi is also known as Jorge Posada's mentor and split their catching duties through 1999.
Girardi is the vice-versa of Torre. He is more of an up tempo kind of guy. Girardi wants his team to attack the bases aggressively. He likes to gamble. This year he has been lucky, his team is winning and is in the ALCS. But compared to Joe Torre, Girardi is still raw to post-season coaching. Girardi makes a lot of mistakes on late inning games by making wrong decisions. He has been criticized for miss-managing his bullpen and used a lot of pinch runners in late games. Sometimes it pays off sometimes it doesn't. But that is how Joe Girardi manages a team. You live with sword, you die with the sword.
Who do you think is a more suited to manage the Yankees? Joe Torre or Joe Girardi?
