"Sure, I'm thrilled being lifted in the 2nd. More time to make pies."
Let’s set the stage. It’s the 2nd inning, 2 outs and bases loaded. AJ Burnett just walked Joe Mauer on a very close ball 4 call by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn. Girardi lifts AJ, who turns his head and says something in the direction of the mound where Girardi, Martin, Jeter and Cano are standing.
Michael Kay and John Flaherty were all over this, and for the next 7 innings they teased what they described as a must watch post game. To that, I say mission accomplished. They got me to stay up and watch to see what transpired. But after getting all the facts, I felt duped for actually buying into what Kay and Flaherty were selling. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Do you know what’s even more disgraceful? The way that some in the dying print media still tried to construct a war between the two men after getting the facts with vague headlines and misleading reporting. Here’s one example from the NY Daily News:
Yankees’ A.J. Burnett visibly angry after Joe Girardi pulls him from 9-4 loss to Minnesota Twins
After handing the ball to the manager, the pitcher took three steps off the mound, turned over his left shoulder and shouted three words – two of them unprintable in this space – expressing what appeared to be displeasure with his manager for pulling him.
“I’m going to be mad, yeah; I’m not going to be mad at him,” Burnett said of Girardi. “He obviously wants to stop the bleeding and thought that I couldn’t. Of course I wanted to stay in. I’ve been in bases-loaded jams before, but that’s not my call.”
Girardi turned his head and looked as if he said something back to Burnett. That wasn’t the story Girardi told after the game, however, as he went on a rant when asked about the chain of events.
(snip)
“Russ (Martin) came out and he said, ‘That’s a strike,’ ” Burnett explained. “I said, yeah. I was not talking to Joe, absolutely not. No matter how mad I get, that guy’s taken my back every day I’ve been here.”
Girardi’s rant made less sense after Burnett acknowledged that the two spoke about his outburst a few innings later in the clubhouse.
This is tabloid journalism at its worst, in this instance from frequent Girardi critic Mark Feinsand. (Those who follow Feinsand’s Twitter account know he refers to Girardi as “Joey Looseleafs” on a regular basis) If you watched the YES post game, all three participants (Girardi, Martin and Burnett) recounted the same exchange from different perspectives. Martin said “That was a good pitch” to AJ, who replied “That’s fuckin’ horseshit!”. None of them had Girardi and Burnett saying anything to one another on the mound. When Burnett left the dugout, he went to the video room and was simply watching tape of the Mauer AB to see where the final pitch was. Joe went to check on him, and according to Joe they both watched the last strike and returned to the dugout.
Further, all three looked genuinely surprised at the line of questioning, since it bore no resemblance to what actually occurred. The press (in this case Jack Curry) managed to make Girardi a sympathetic figure after what had to be his biggest televised blow up as a manager. I also felt sorry for Burnett, being implicated of being a jerk and bad teammate when neither was true. Bad night for AJ, but an even worse night for YES and the beat writers who jumped the gun on a story that never happened.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
28 Responses to The Girardi vs AJ confrontation that wasn’t
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
This is all on point, except that I thought YES and Jack Curry deserve no blame. Curry asked reasonable questions and did not push once Joe laid the issue to rest. I thought YES did well, these had to be asked.
I agree, Curry’s questions were fair and he was (as always) very professional in how he phrased them and in how they were asked. Especially after reviewing the video again this morning, I had no issue with Curry. I referred to him in the piece simply because he was the one asking the questions, and didn’t want to paint everyone in the room with one brush. Maybe I could have phrased it better.
But even though his questions were fair and its easy to see why people could misinterpret this incident, all of this has to be taken in context. There has been an attempt to paint Burnett as a spoiled, pampered athlete by some in the media since he got here. These are the folks who believe AJ’s struggles are a function of some deep character flaw that he has. A “lack of guts” or “2 cent head”. If folks listened to Martin’s interview, he explained how pitches were drifting over the plate and how hitters will sit on his FB when they see the curve isn’t being thrown for strikes. That’s a function of release point, mechanics, and the fact that AJ only has 2 pitches to work with. Girardi stated that he reacted the way he did because he’s tired of the character attacks on AJ, and that’s totally fair.
Despite losing his cool, I thought Joe actually came off looking good, which is tough to do. He came across as someone who respects the game, cares about his players and won’t stand for veiled personal attacks on their character. Bravo, Joe.
I thought AJ said it to Joe but he could have just been letting Joe know Joe know what he thought of the last pitch. The NY media always wants to blow something out of proportion.
how could anyone fall for this cover up..indeed he was upset with joe, not only this time but every time for the last three years, aj acts this way..he said this f in horseshit or bullshit..who did he mean that to ..the ump for one pitch on mauer?? he says i have been in bases loaded situations before..what do you think he meant? and who was is that did not give him the chance to get out of it.. they will try and more him after the year..they don’t want him to come off as a zambrano, will be even harder to move him..the guy simply can not pitch in NY..he is not the first..NL is where he fits..maybe brewers.. why joe takes his abuse is beyond me..if i’m joe, by now i would have told cashman, you fix this guys attitude or next time he shows me up..he gets it right back and never pitches on my team again..if you don’t like it fire me and you be the manager..joe would get a hugh amount of respect..now joe seems like punching bag for this que tip shaved head..lost from reality..aj is a legend in his own mind..
Orrrr, the player who has never said a single negative word about Girardi and publicly thanked him after last season was actually telling the truth, so Joe had no reason to rip him.
Or, watch Jeter’s reaction after Burnett’s outburst. Seemed Jeter shuddered, surprised to hear what AJ said. I believe in the heat of the moment the situation was worse than Joe, AJ and Martin related it and it was whitewashed afterwards.
Maybe Derek reacted that way because it was shouted within earshot of the umpire. Or because anyone who knows Jeter knows how straight-laced he is, especially in public. Or maybe he ate some bad Mexican food that came up on him that very moment. See? We can all play this game.
What you’re doing is exactly what the YES broadcasters did. Taking a shred of evidence and building a grand conclusion off it. We have matching, credible accounts on the Yankee side and conspiracy theories on the other. I’ll stick with the Yanks on this one.
Respectfully agree to disagree. I’d like as much as anyone for my team to be a cohesive unit. If I was watching the game on mute (which is preferable to enduring Kay’s bloviating) I would still have come to the same conclusion. First reactions speak louder than explanations after reflection. I’ll buy into your proposition that perhaps Jeter had one too many burritos and was also offended by the F word, and I’ll buy AJ’s explanation that he went directly into the clubhouse to put down his stuff (?) when resting his glove on the bench certainly would not have sufficed. I was surprised, however, at the explosive reaction of the normally calm and considered Joe Girardi to Jack Curry’s reasonable questions as well as the calm and solicitous reaction of the usually snarky-after-a-bad-performance of AJ Burnett. Anyway, it’s over and done with and we’re ready for today’s game.
This ties in to my reply to Mo above. Context. This isn’t the first time AJ’s had insinuations made about his lack of character, and its usually done by people who don’t understand who he is as a pitcher. Girardi has been dealing with these veiled personal attacks on AJ for 3 years, and he’s tired of it. That’s exactly what he said in the post game, and I believe him.
BWP, watch the videos. Look at the reactions on their faces when reporters ask them about a confrontation. Especially AJ, who looked horrified by the idea that people would even accuse him of that.
This. Exactly. If you watched AJ and Joe G postgame you could tell their reactions were genuine surprise. No way they concocted some quick cover story. This was all media BS and is why newspapers and radios are becoming obsolete for real fans trying to get real news.
AJ gets mad at the ump for one pitch to mauer, so he curse back towards the mound, storms into the dugout down the tunnel…but maybe i’m missing something..what happened to the first inning and all the pitches in the second inning.all before the mauer [pitch that the ump got wrong? that don’t translate? and this behavior has been for three years now.maybe you guys find the best out of AJ..that is o.k…but he stinks and it is not one outing ,it has been since may…he has one win in august in three years..the needs to go to the NL,,and i truly believe he will do great.last year how many excuses did people give him..brown , pavano, johnson,burnett,and we can add some more on, are not made for NY..he needs to go at years end..
Couldn’t agree more with all of this regarding the beat writers and the day-after reaction.
One clarifying quibble though, as Moshe noted above, is that I think it’s a little tough to get on YES or Curry for how they handled this incident last night. To me, the turning point in this whole thing is when the questions were asked and the players and Girardi explained what went on. Until that point, it wasn’t unreasonable to wonder to whom Burnett’s expletive was aimed, nor to question how Girardi reacted on the mound, nor to question what happened when Burnett went to the clubhouse and Girardi followed. Frankly, I don’t think those things were such a big deal even if the explanation was that AJ has an emotional reaction, Girardi talked to him about it and AJ calmed down. Heck, with what AJ’s going through and especially with that outing last night, a little bit of a hissy-fit wouldn’t be all that surprising nor unreasonable (as long as it’s followed with realizing you lost your cool and settling down).
But, again, once we passed the point where this whole thing was explained (quite reasonably I think, with all parties involved giving some version of basically the same exact course of events), for the beat writers to be treating this the way it appears to be getting treated this morning, seems totally unfair. It really just makes it seem like they want to sensationalize a story, and also like they have personal issues (in some cases) with Girardi and/or Burnett. And for guys who (in some cases, again, I don’t mean to paint them all with the same brush) constantly bitch and moan about how some fans are unfair to them, they’re not exactly making a good case for themselves. To this fan, at least, it all comes off as petulant.
Joe, check out my reply to Mo above if you haven’t already. I probably could have phrased that better, but I also had no issue with Curry’s questions.
And you raise an important point about how reporters are dealing with info as it comes in, while we get to pass judgement after all the facts are in. But that’s also why I took such umbrage with Feinsand, who seemed to still be pushing a storyline that was already disproven for any objective observer.
Also, I posted over at RAB last night (during the game) that even if AJ was yelling at Joe, I wouldn’t be surprised if Joe had no issue with it. Those who’ve been following Girardi for a long time know that he would laugh when he was a catcher and some pitcher would tell him to get off his mound, and he says he likes guys who are fiery and show emotion out there. So, pretty much agree on all counts.
Oh yeah I saw your comment above… Didn’t mean my comment as an argument with anyone as much as just getting my thoughts into the arena.
I couldn’t disagreement with your take any more. I thought Feinsand’s piece was very fair. In fact, I agree with every word.
I also don’t agree that Girardi was a sympathetic figure. Curry used a very respectful tone to ask questions that were on everyone’s mind. For Girardi to think that no one would be interested about what happened in plain view is silly. Also, if AJ had to clarify his remarks to Girardi innings later, why can’t Girardi do the same for the media. His tirade was unprofessional, and I am sure he will apologize to Curry sometime today, probably in public.
File under: Media hates players/coaches who speak like robots but cries when players/coaches don’t speak like robots.
(Which isn’t to say Girardi couldn’t have handled the situation last night a little better, but sheesh… The team suffered a really tough loss, AJ (who by all appearances is pretty close with Girardi) may be seeing his career slip away, and people reacted like… people. Whatever… Perils of being a player/coach on the Yanks, I suppose, and dealing with the positives and negatives of the NY media.)
Girardi could have diffused the whole thing by laughing at Curry’s questions and explaining what happened. He chose not to, and instead he freaked out. That seems like an odd reaction if the truth is on your side.
Man… I never knew so many people had the emotional discipline of the Dalai Lama. I must be a real hot-head, and I didn’t even know it.
your reaction is normal.you do not have to be a hot head to get angry or upset with someone. i don;t even know AJ or was the object of his ire and i got mad
You think Jack Curry’s questions are threatening to Girardi? Really?
Who cares what he says? More importantly, his questions were to be expected. Girardi is a smart guy. He knew what was coming. This wasn’t the heat of the moment.
That’s why I think it’s odd.
“You think Jack Curry’s questions are threatening to Girardi? Really?”
Yes.
No, wait, I never said that. No.
Then why should Girardi lack emotional discipline?
I don’t see the triggers in this situation to get him angry, especially given that it was hours since the incident, and he had to know what was coming.
Again, I don’t know what actually happened or what Girardi was thinking, but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me given that humor would have made Curry (and the rest of the media) feel truly stupid.
believe your eyes guys. not your ears, hours later..cooler heads prevailed..
Context. Explained by me numerous times above.
There are some media personnel who are a disgrace to the media industry. Trouble makers who know nothing about what they see, and even less about what they do no hear, but they speculate to get their name in print. We have a sports writer here in Nashville that writes what “he wants,” not what is always the facts. When things are going good for the Titans, Predators, local colleges,Nashville Sounds, he really is on the bandwagon, but let one of these teams not do as good as “he” thinks they should, and he becomes a traitor in less then 24 hours each day of the week. The National Sports Writers need to form a committee and chastise those writers who know nothing about sports they are writing about, and need to study the rules of the game, learn the players and the team personnel by contact,live the game, and write what they know are the facts and only facts.
Some of these writers need to be fired from their respective jobs immediately. AJ Burnett took an illegal blow to the head from these two idiots, Michael Kay and John Flaherty. I will call them jerks so that I can get this article in print, but the media industry should do their job and make these two unknowns pay for making erroneous statements. Apologies should come first, then retraction, whichever comes first. Apologies to the principals involved, apologies to the fans who listen and read their junk, and retraction in the main print of baseball, such as Sporting News, ESPN, etc.
Marty Martel
http://umpirestateofmind.blogspot.com/ —A.rkansas J.
aundice
This is getting played to death and I’ll take Girardi at his word because he seems to me to be straight up. The issue here folks is that AJ Burnett is a liability on the mound and if memory serves me correct we’re looking at the same scenario as last year when he is left off the postseason rotation once again. How long do you stick with this guy, contract or no contract. To me, THAT is the issue at hand.