Afternoon Baseball

It's worth looking at because troubles with management are why he was fired in Florida.
It's tough to gauge what the Steinbrenners are going to be like. It's hard to imagine them sitting behind the Yankees' dugout yelling at the umpire about balls and strikes, but you never know. The form of action that could irk Joe Girardi is likely to be the public second-guessing that is a trademark of George.
On the bright side, many of the Yankees' battles, whether between management and manager, GM and owners, players and players, players and managers or players and management, are often more about public perception and how it plays in the media. Girardi has ample training in handling that circus from his time as a player in the Bronx, as Torre's bench coach in 2005 and from time spent at the YES network.

In Florida, it seemed there was a genuine, private animosity between him and Jeffrey Loria. Regardless of who was at fault, the owner's going to win that battle.

The lesson, then, for Girardi, is simple: Keep public disagreements superficial, on the back pages, and rise above them. Of course, winning will help everything.

Labels: Yankees