Joe Girardi may have cost the New York Yankees a win in Game 2 of the ALDS with a couple of crucial errors, and the manager was not surprised that fans did not forget about it when the team returned home the following game.
Prior to Game 4 at Yankee Stadium on Sunday (a game New York won 1-0 to stay alive), Girardi was booed by the home fans. He said he saw it coming.
“I kind of expected it, you know. I’ve seen them boo players and managers that have a lot more status than I do,” Girardi said, per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports. “So I was prepared for it. I prepared my family for it. I told my kids what was going to happen. But it’s life. And, again, it’s not going to change who I am. It’s no fun to be good. But they’re passionate. Our fans are passionate and they want to win, and they get upset when we don’t win or when someone makes a mistake in their eyes. So that’s all part of it.”
After the Yankees’ dramatic win to cut the Cleveland Indians’ series lead to 2-1, Girardi said it was nice to see the “good side” of the team’s fanbase.
“But you get the good side of it too, like tonight the emotion,” he added. “The emotion Tuesday against Minnesota. So that’s the trade-off.”
With the Yankees leading 8-3 and two out in the bottom of the sixth in Game 2, Girardi chose not to challenge a questionable call where it was ruled that Lonnie Chisenhall was hit by a pitch. The next batter belted a grand slam to get the Cleveland Indians back into the game, which they eventually won to take a 2-0 series lead.
One Yankees player liked an Instagram post that called Girardi an “imbecile,” though the manager later said he believes it was an accident.
