Joe Girardi got in line with the rest of the Yankees organization today and pledged his support to steroid-tainted Alex Rodriguez.
“I think we will rally around him. I think teammates have already started to rally around him,” Girardi said on WFAN this afternoon.
“I kind of look at it as a relationship you kind of have with your kids. Sometimes kids do things you wish they didn’t do, but you don’t stop loving them, you don’t stop caring for them, you don’t stop being their friend or their teammate. And that’s the thing.”
Girardi told host Mike Francesa he was surprised by Rodriguez’s admission he used banned substances while with the Rangers in 2001-03, a mea culpa spurred by a Sports Illustrated report that Rodriguez tested positive for two steroids in 2003.
“I was not expecting that,” Girardi said. “I think all of us always thought of Alex not taking anything, and I was a little bit shocked, but I was happy with the way he’s approached this, dealt with it so far.
“I really felt in his heart he was truly sorry yesterday, because Alex is not a guy of a lot of emotions and you could see the tears in his eyes.”
Girardi, 44, played 15 seasons in the majors (1989-2003), for the Yankees from 1996-99. He managed the Florida Marlins in 2006 before taking over the Yankees after Joe Torre left before last season.
Girardi said he did not take steroids as a player, and did not know of any teammate doing so while he was with the Yankees.
“I don’t ever think of players as necessarily taking money out of my pocket. What’s disappointing to me that in baseball people focus on the numbers,” Girardi said. “And the home run records, the single-season records, and I believe that our game has been tainted.
“This is going to be an era that people look at as great for certain parts of baseball, but not great for other parts, and that’s disappointing for me. You want to move on and get to the new era, but names keep coming out and you have to keep looking back.”
Girardi said he has been in contact with Rodriguez recently.
“I talked to him about the truth and how important it was,” Girardi said. “Once you get the truth out there … it’s a big weight off your shoulders. And you could move on and move forward and it’s the start of the healing process.
“That’s a good thing. There’s a lot of good that can come from things that are negative, and I think it’s important that he tries to turn this around.”
Girardi said Rodriguez would be able to handle the media crush and fan reaction that will intensify when he reports to spring training next week.
“I would probably be worried if he had never been through a controversy before,” Girardi said. “If he had never been booed in stadiums, if he was the one that everyone always pulled for, but Alex, everywhere he goes, there’s resentment or people that don’t like him for whatever reason.
“He’s been down that road and he’s been able to shut it out. He’ll be able to do it this time, too.”
The Yankees have been through this, too. Last spring training, Andy Pettitte apologized for using human growth hormone.
“This will be something that we have to handle in the beginning of spring training and I think we will be able to move on when we start playing,” Girardi said.
“We will focus on the importance of being a team and sticking by each other, but as far as singling someone out, I don’t necessarily think that’s fair.”