{"id":3016,"date":"2012-10-03T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2012-10-03T12:49:06","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T16:49:06","slug":"a-conversation-with-new-york-yankees-manager-joe-girardi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/10\/a-conversation-with-new-york-yankees-manager-joe-girardi.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi (Photo by Robert Rogers\/MLB Photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a 15-year player and three-time World Series champion, Joe Girardi was known as one of the hardest nosed catchers to get behind the plate.<\/p>\n

Now, as the manager of the most storied franchise in Major League Baseball history, he continues to pull no punches in an effort to get the best out of his team, including the 2009 World Series title.<\/p>\n

But most people who know Girardi well understand that he is a man of great faith and committed to living out a life of integrity and excellence as a way of honoring God’s presence in his life.<\/p>\n

In this Inspiring Athletes interview, Girardi shares about how he became a Christian and how his faith impacts his career as a championship manager:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Share a little bit of your faith story.<\/p>\n

Joe Girardi: I became a Christian during my first full season as a baseball player. When I was 13, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and given three months to live. She lived six years. During that time, I thought I was playing baseball to give her something to live for or to keep her live. I was playing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and doing really well. All of the sudden it hit me, I didn\u2019t know why I was playing. So I came home, back to Northwestern, where at the time I was dating Kim who is now my wife of 20 years. She led me to the Lord and made me realize that God had given me a gift. That\u2019s why I was playing. Throughout these past 23 years, I\u2019ve realized that God has been in control. So many times I thought that I was in a certain place, like when I played for the Chicago Cubs, that I was going to play there the rest of my career. And then I went to Colorado. And then I thought I\u2019d be there the rest of my career. And then I went to New York. In the beginning, New York was very difficult. Sometimes you don\u2019t understand why God puts you places, but you realize over time that there\u2019s a reason for everything that He does and He\u2019s in charge. So many of the things that have happened in my life, they wouldn\u2019t have been what I picked. He\u2019s going to put you where He wants you, not where you want to go.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How has your faith impacted your approach to managing?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Girardi: It goes back to when Kim introduced me to the Lord. God had given me a gift. With that gift, He has given me a platform. If you have faith and if you understand what Jesus is all about, that love is the greatest commandment, then the works will just take over. You\u2019ll want to be there for people. You\u2019ll want to do good things for people. You\u2019ll want to reach out to those who are struggling\u2014very much like Jesus did. I think Jesus would have played like a mad man. I really do. I think He would have played fair and I think He would have respected his opponent. But I think He would\u2019ve played harder than anyone. That\u2019s my thought. Here He has given me this great gift. Don\u2019t waste it. Because He\u2019s given me a platform and I\u2019m supposed to go out there and do good things for Him. So to me, that\u2019s what it’s all about. I know some people think Christians are soft. But Andy Pettitte is not soft. I can tell you. He is as fierce a competitor as I\u2019ve ever seen. I think it\u2019s because of his faith. He understands what God has given him. And that’s why I’ve always given it everything I have.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Why is it so important for your players to know that you’ve got their backs?<\/p>\n

Girardi: Jesus stood up for people. So I think it\u2019s important that people see you stand up for people too and that they see that you believe in them. How easy would it be for Jesus not to believe in us as many times as we screw up in the course of a day? But He always believes in us. And by dying on the cross, He stood up for us in the ultimate way.<\/p>\n

Read more from Joe Girardi and other legendary sports figures in the book Greatest Coach Ever<\/a> (Regal Books) as they share their thoughts on iconic UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3026,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}