A picture is worth a thousand words, and New York Yankees fans offered plenty upon seeing Aaron Boone and Joe Girardi in the same frame.
Girardi, a Bronx mainstay as a player and manager, attended Sunday’s 3-3 tie with the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s already been nearly a decade since the Yankees unceremoniously dumped Girardi following the 2017 ALCS.
Yankees reporter Bryan Hoch shared a picture on X (formerly Twitter) featuring Girardi, Boone, captain Aaron Judge, and center fielder Cody Bellinger talking on Sunday morning. Girardi managed Judge during the three-time AL MVP’s first two seasons.
The Yankees hired Boone, who had never managed or coached, after Girardi’s departure. Boone owns a 603-429 record and one pennant in seven seasons.
“The man who SHOULD BE THE YANKEE MANAGER,” one fan wrote of Girardi. “Aaron Boone my [expletive].”
Added another: “Say what you want about [Girardi] but he woulda won that ring last year.”
Although Girardi reached the playoffs in six of his 10 seasons, he frequently earned criticism for lineups and various clichés. Yankees fans often mocked him saying, “It’s not what you want,” following losses or injuries.
However, time mends all mounds. Fans now prefer to think about Girardi’s four combined titles (three as a player, one managing the Yankees) rather than his 2015 infatuation with light-hitting second baseman Stephen Drew.
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi in 2017
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
“[Girardi] how we miss you,” read one comment. “You were your own man and a smart manager.”
“Wishing he was still manager so they would not be so lacking fundamentally and in the dugout,” an X user chimed in.
Girardi last managed in 2022, when the Philadelphia Phillies fired him following a 22-29 start. We’ll see if the 60-year-old eventually ends up back in the dugout or if he’s sticking to the broadcast booth.
