In the past week, I've heard a lot about how Joe Girardi has done his best to blow the ALCS for the Yankees. I've heard about his so-called catastrophic mistakes (more on those later), and a number of fellow Yankees fans have talked to me about how they miss the days of Joe Torre.
There's almost nothing that bothers me more than people harking back to the days of Torre. I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but people talk about him as if he was the sole reason that the Yankees had any success in the '90s.
So let's take a look at this right now and put all the chatter to rest. Joe Girardi versus Joe Torre: Who is the better manager?
Torre has a career managerial record of 2,246-1,915. His teams have made the playoffs the last 14 consecutive seasons, and 12 of those 14 squads finished first in their division. Oh, and he's got four World Series rings — I suppose that's worth mentioning.
Girardi, on the other hand, has a record of 270-216. This year is the first time in three seasons that he's managed his way to the playoffs and the other two years, his teams finished third and fourth, respectively, in their divisions.
So is there really a question here? It seems pretty clear that Torre is far and away the more accomplished manager. But while that much is unquestionable, Girardi is still the guy that I'd rather have at the helm of my team.
The two Joes represent two very different managerial styles. Torre has been known as a guy who can manage personalities — certainly something that worked in his favor in his days with the Yankees — but in terms of game management, he's old school; he makes decisions based on instinct and feel.
But feel doesn't exactly cut it these days. This is an age of statistics, sabermetrics and probabilities. It's an age of deep examination and analysis.
Joe Girardi's not perfect, but he understands this much. He knows the benefits of playing lefty-righty matchups, he appreciates the value of on-base percentage and not making outs (it sounds obvious, but plenty of managers have trouble comprehending that simple concept), and he's not afraid to be aggressive when the win is there for the taking.
Sometimes this outlook makes Girardi micromanage a bit too much. Substituting DH Jerry Hairston for Johnny Damon in the field (and thereby forcing the pitcher into the batting order) in Game 3 was probably a move that no one else in baseball would have (or should have) made, and pinch-running Freddy Guzman for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning of Game 5 was indefensible.
But those moves weren't exactly disastrous, series-altering mistakes. And most of Girardi's bold decisions have been good ones — bringing in Mariano Rivera with the game on the line, even when it's not the ninth; pitching CC Sabathia on three days' rest; pinch-hitting for Jose Molina as early as the fifth inning.
Compare these with Joe Torre's blunders in the NLCS: starting 21-year-old rookie Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 and leaving him in the game too long, resulting in a Ryan Howard two-run double; inexplicably continuing to play Ronnie Belliard over superior hitter and defender Orlando Hudson at second base; pitching Vicente Padilla at all, let alone twice in five games (I know Padilla did well in Game 2, but you have to know when you've caught lightning in a bottle).
In Torre's first 15 years as a manager, he made the playoffs only once, earning him the nickname "Clueless Joe." I'm not saying that all of his later success was due to circumstance, but a lot of it was. Despite his accomplishments, Torre still frequently demonstrates why he earned that nickname.
Girardi's never won anything as a manager, but he's already proven that he's far from clueless. And ultimately, there's a reason only the latter Joe is going to be managing in the upcoming World Series.
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David Heck is a senior majoring in philosophy. He can be reached at David.Heck@tufts.edu.
