Yankees Manager Girardi’s Father Dies in Illinois at Age 81
The father of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi died Oct. 6, according to Deiters Funeral Home & Crematory in Washington, Illinois. He was 81.
Jerry Girardi, of East Peoria, Illinois, had Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by four sons, a daughter and six grandchildren. His wife, Angela, died in 1984.
“It’s been somewhat difficult,” Joe Girardi said at a news conference in New York today. “One of the reasons I didn’t say anything is I knew talking about it might make it even harder.”
The Yankees said they will observe a moment of silence in honor of Jerry Girardi before they play the Baltimore Orioles tonight in Game 4 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. A win gives the Yankees a spot in the AL Championship Series.
Girardi said his father, who took him to Chicago Cubs games as a child, would always emphasize to him the importance of “finishing the job at hand,” and that was another reason he didn’t share news of the death.
“My thought process was, my dad would want me to do everything we could do to win a World Series,” he said. “For the most part, no one knew. I didn’t want to have to deal with the team and the team to have to deal with it. I really haven’t met with them to tell them.”
Burial is scheduled for Oct. 15, which is an off-day in the ALCS.
“I was going to tell the team if God willing we got into the next round and I wouldn’t be at the workout on Monday,” Girardi said. “I didn’t want it out.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
Yankee Manager Joe Girardi’s Father Dies in Illinois at Age 81
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
Manager Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees walks back to the dugout after a pitching change against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston.
Manager Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees walks back to the dugout after a pitching change against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. Photographer: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
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