What's with Joe Girardi's mysterious pre-game behavior?
I went into tonight looking forward to flipping between the Rangers-Devils, Mets-Phillies and Yankees-Royals. Then I became enthralled with the Yankees' decision to start Brian Bruney instead of Ian Kennedy. How badly was Kennedy hurt? Or did he come down with the flu that knocked Girardi out?
None of the above. It was because of the rain - and the Yankees' decision to hold Kennedy to the later innings is a strategy I've never heard of before. (Colleague Ken Davidoff informed me Joe Torre and Bruce Bochy did the same thing last week.)
But then I learned of Girardi leading reporters to believe Morgan Ensberg was going on the DL with a (fake?) injury to make room for Alberto Gonzalez, but then the team announces 15 minutes before the game that it's not Ensberg - Shelley Duncan instead was optioned to Triple-A.
So what gives? Did the Yankees know all the while Duncan was going down and that Kennedy wasn't going to start, and they just held the news back because they thought that would give them an advantage? I sure hope not. If so, puh-lease. The game's won on the field, not because your opponent didn't know until late which backup is going down.
This so-called gamesmanship, overplayed in my opinion, is the one big question mark on Girardi's resume, I believe. When Girardi was the Yankees bench coach in 2005, he refused to fill out the lineup card until he received the other team's lineup. I sure hope what happened today isn't a sign of things to come. Because this is high school stuff.
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Comments (1)
I heard that Girardi was waiting on weather reports to decide his pitching strategy. Seems logical. I also heard that Girardi & Cashman were waiting for evaluations of Jeter, Posada & Ensberg's injuries before deciding on the roster spot to open for Alberto Gonzalez. Also seems logical. Hard to find high school in anything the Yanks were doing. The game's won on the field, ultimately, but off the field actions do have effect on the game. It's good to hear that Girardi pays attention to details and will try to gain any edge he can.