Joe Girardi found out his father, Jerry, passed away Saturday but still decided to manage in the playoffs.
Jerry Girardi died at the age of 81 from Alzheimer’s disease on Saturday, but the news of his passing only became public yesterday.
“It’s been somewhat difficult,” Girardi said of dealing with the death while managing against the Orioles in the ALDS, where the Yankees fell 2-1 in 13 innings last night to tie the series.
Girardi had hoped to keep the information private before it came out yesterday and his players weren’t aware of what happened until they showed up at Yankee Stadium.
“One of the reasons I didn’t say anything, I knew talking about it would make it probably even harder,” Girardi said. “So Saturday when we were on the bus going to the train station [to Baltimore], we were on the Henry Hudson [Parkway], about noon I got the call that my father had passed.”
The elder Girardi was living at an assisted living center in Metamora, Ill. Joe Girardi’s mother, Angela, died when Girardi was a student at Northwestern in 1984.
“I had only told a couple of people,” Girardi said. “So for the most part, no one knew, because I didn’t want it to … have to deal with it with the team and the team to have to deal with it. That’s a strong group in there, and I’m glad that I have them behind me.”
He intended to tell them after the ALDS was over and if they won, that he would miss Monday’s workout between Games 2 and 3 of the ALCS.
“I had no idea he was even sick,” said Jayson Nix, who started at shortstop last night, adding he didn’t notice a difference in Girardi this week.
“You’d never know from the way he was acting,” Nix said. “He never let on. It’s got to be a difficult time for him: Everything going on with us, fighting here and to be dealing with that, as well. But he’s been consistent with who he is all year.”
Robinson Cano said it gave the team added incentive to close out the series, something it wasn’t able to do.
“I know he’s a family guy,” the second baseman said. “You always see his kids and his wife. He always says ‘family first,’ so I know this is tough for him.”
Jerry Girardi served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He worked in construction sales, as a bricklayer, as well as a bartender and will be buried on Monday in East Peoria, Ill.
The team observed a moment of silence prior to last night’s game and Girardi could be seen wiping tears from his eye.