An eye blink after his Yankees’ 3-2 season-opening win over Toronto, Joe Girardi hugged coaches Kevin Long and Tony Pena and bounded out of the dugout with the first managerial victory of his pinstriped career.
Moments after Mariano Rivera had closed out the beginning of the end for this venerable monument, he handed the game ball to his manager and embraced his former catcher and friend. In a career filled with special moments, Girardi will remember last night forever.
“It was special. He congratulated me and said, ‘That’s No. 1. Let’s have a lot more.’ That’s a neat moment,” said Girardi. “It’s awesome. I looked forward to this day from the time I signed as manager. Through all the preparation in spring, I saw it pay off. It’s an unbelievable feeling when you actually get to play for real.”
Girardi developed a special relationship with Rivera, whom he caught in pinstripes from 1996-99. As soon as Rivera got Marco Scutaro to ground out and end the night, there was never any doubt where the game ball was going.
“No question at all, as soon as we got the third out, I knew that ball was going to our manager. It was special today,” Rivera said. “I told him congratulations and good job. It’s special between him and I. I respect him as player and manager, he has all my support. He deserved this win.”
Girardi – who replaced iconic Joe Torre after the latter’s dozen straight playoff seasons – saw his team play the way he wants them to, with hustling plays and dirty uniforms. Jason Giambi credited their crisp defense to how hard Girardi ran them this spring, and there was Bobby Abreu scoring from first on Alex Rodriguez’ first-inning triple and Johnny Damon legged out an eighth-inning triple.
The toughest call of his debut came when he went to the mound with a runner on third and two outs in the seventh. He stayed with Chien-Ming Wang, and the ace induced an inning-ending groundout by David Eckstein.