Girardi Has Come A Long Way Since His Days With The Rockies
DENVER (CBS4) - Joe Girardi has done pretty well for himself since he left Colorado and the Rockies. Back in the day he was a regular on CBS4's Sunday night sports show. Last week at Coors Field CBS4's Gary Miller caught up with the Yankee manager.
"I've always wanted to manage and I've gotten a chance to realize that dream, but I think getting on your show helped me with my broadcasting, actually," Girardi told Miller. "I love broadcasting as well. It's a wonderful job and I think that experience helped me."
Girardi said whatever his role is, he just loves the game of baseball.
"In different times of my life I wanted to do different things and have different jobs and broadcasting has been a great fill for me. I really enjoyed it in between my coaching jobs," he said.
Being the manager of the Yankees is one of the most high-pressure jobs in the world of sports. Girardi said he handles it by keeping balance with his family.
"Kim and the three kids are awesome and they keep it in perspective for me," he said. "I understand it's a job and I have a job to do; and I love my job, that's part of it. But I'm able to leave it at work, and when I come home I'm a husband and a father."
Girardi has won a world championship with the Yankees, but New York fans expect the team to win a world championship every year.
"I think it's a good thing because I think we expect to win and I think our ownership is driven to win, fans are driven to win, our farm office is driven to win. I wouldn't want to come to the ballpark thinking we didn't have a chance."
He said he loved his return to Colorado last week.
"I got a chance to see my brother and his family, some friends. This was a great place to play. I was here during 1993 to 1995 at Mile High Stadium, over 4.4 million people, the opening of (Coors Field), the way people in the Rocky Mountain region embrace this. And I'm not just talking about Colorado ... everywhere we went they really embraced us. We had a blast."
Girardi said seeing some of his old teammates has made him feel a little old.
"(Eric Young's) son used to be running around the clubhouse. Now he's running around the outfield in the ballpark. It just makes you realize how quick time goes."
