6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MLB
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007
II
II
'Donnie Baseball' says he'll leave Yankees after snub for manager job
BY RONALD BLUM ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Yankees managerial hopeful Joe Girardi points while appearing on pre-game television prior to Game 3 of the baseball World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies Saturday at Coors Field in Denver. Girardi was recently interviewed by Yankees management for the vacant manager position.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees picked experience over popularity, offering the manager's job to Joe Girardi at the risk of watching Don Mattingly walk away from the franchise.
Beloved as team captain, Donnie Baseball was the early favorite to replace Joe Torre and openly coveted the spot. After finding out Monday he didn't get it, Mattingly told the Yankees he had no interest in returning next year in any other coaching position.
"Don was extremely disappointed to learn today that he wasn't the organization's choice to fill the managerial vacancy," Mattingly's agent, Ray Schulte, said in an e-mail.
Girardi was the 2006 NL Manager of the Year with Florida, plus he has a pinstriped pedigree. The hard-nosed catcher played on three Yankees teams that won the World Series, served as their bench coach and was a TV announcer this year.
"Joe Girardi is a good man," Torre said Monday on "Late Show with David Letterman." "He's got a feel for this organization."
Still, spurning Mattingly — who always receives one of the loudest ovations on Old-Timers' Day — was sure to be compared to another famous Yankee snub: Babe Ruth was never offered the
manager's_job_he_so_desperately wanted
Mattingly was the Yankees hitting coach for three years before moving next to Torre this season. Schulte Mattingly congratulated Girardi and wished him well.
A baseball official confirmed the Yankees are negotiating with Girardi's agent, Steve Mandell.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal hasn't been formalized, said general manager Brian Cashman made the recommendation and it was accepted by the Yankees.
Messages left for Cashman were not immediately returned.
"The Yankees contacted us," Mandell said. "They have an interest in Joe becoming their manager. We've had some discussions. It's a process and we'll go through the process."
He declined to say when there might be an announcement.
Girardi also beat out Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena, who had the most managerial experience of the candidates.
Girardi caught for the Yankees from 1996-99, served as a bench coach in 2005, then managed the Marlins the following year. He kept a young team in contention until September and then was fired, apparently for clashing with owner Jeffrey Loria and others above him.
The 43-year-old Girardi often told many in the Marlins about how
the Yankees did things, reinforcing the winning ways he learned in New York. Now, he'll get a chance to try them out himself.
Girardi was the first person to interview to replace Torre, who managed the team to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons. He spent about five hours with the Yankees' baseball operations staff last week, and an hour with George Steinbrenner, sons Hank and Hal, son-in-law Felix Lopez and team president Randy Levine.
Girardi turned down the Baltimore Orioles' managing job last summer, choosing to spend time with his alling father.
Mattingly also interviewed for the Yankees spot last week, telling team management how much he wanted it. Earlier this month, he said replacing Torre would be quite a challenge.
"it's like following John Wooden or something." Mattingly said then.
"This guy wins championship after championship and we're in the playoffs in every year.
"It's pretty much a no-win situation for someone coming in here to be able to live up to the expectations or live up to what he did. It's not going to happen. So as far as someone coming in and taking over this job, it's not necessarily a great situation."
Girardi gets the unenviable task of following Torre, who led the Yankees to four World Series titles in his first five years — but none since — and was one of the most celebrated sports figures in the city.
If Girardi takes the job, he inherits a team in transition and one without Alex Rodriguez. He also is not assured of getting back pitchers Andy Pettite and Mariano Rivera or catcher Jorge Posada.
The Yankees offered Torre a one year contract featuring a hefty paycut and performance-based bonuses, and he turned it down Oct. 18. The result was a messy departure that split Yankees fans into camps of Torre supporters and proponents for change.
Rodriguez informed the Yankees on Sunday that he was terminating his contract and becoming a free agent. The Yankees have repeatedly said they wouldn't negotiate with A-Rod if he hit the open market.
Rocky performance in playoffs doesn't discourage team
MLB
BY ARNIE STAPLETON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Success defies expectations gives hints of things to come
"We won't hang our heads," Jimenez said. "We hurt. We hurt because we got so far so fast. I didn't think about the World Series when we were in Tucson. I was just hoping to make it up for the last month. I got to pitch in the World Series. I couldn't have dreamed that would happen."
DENVER — Not Done.
It might be gone, but it remains their mantra.
Even though they were bounced by Boston in their first trip to the World Series, the Rockies insist their NL pennant, secured with a hard-to-fathom 21-1 run that captivated a city, was just a taste of things to come.
The message that LaTroy Hawkins scribbled on the grease board in the Colorado clubhouse after the Rockies roared into the playoffs was wiped clean Monday as the Rockies packed their belongings and scattered for a shorter off-season than they ever could have imagined.
They're a young, talented club and now one that has postseason experience.
In addition to their core of big boppers including Matt Holliday, Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe, the Rockies have power prospects Ian Stewart and Joe Koshansky ready to follow in the footsteps of the baby-faced Tulowitzki, who took the NL by storm with his glove, bat and a leadership that belied his 23 years.
The Rockies, whose owner,
Charlie Monfort, is already predicting a return trip to the World Series in 2008, can't wait to see Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales pitch a full season or for Seth Smith and Jeff Baker to continue their climbs.
"This isn't a one-year flash," Troy Lutowitzki insisted Monday. "Our playoff run was a display of how our team can play. The World Series strengthened our resolve to get back here."
The Rockies could lose Kaz Matsui to free agency but Stewart will get a crash course at second base in the fall league just in case,
and closer Manny Corpas' emergence will make the expected loss of three-time All-Star Brian Fuentes easier to swallow.
"As long as these guys are here, it's going to be a really good team for a really long time," backup catcher Chris Iannetta said. "These are some of the best players in all of baseball."
The Rockies sat and watched in silence as the Red Sox celebrated their championship at Coors Field, letting the disappointment sink in to strengthen their resolve.
"There's moments we're going to look back on and be very proud of what we accomplished this year," said Helton, who waited 1,578 games through a decade of dis appointment in Denver to finally taste this success.
"No reason to hang our head. We accomplished a lot this season. They outplayed us. We have no reason to be upset. We made it to the World Series. We did a lot this year. We came a long way."
The Rockies realize they were just in over their heads, and that's why they're not hanging them.
"The better team won," Tulowitzki said. "But I felt we came a long way to get here. We have a young ballclub full of talent and hopefully we will be back."
"It was tough for me to sleep last night," he added. "I couldn't get over that the season was over."
The Rockies stumbled to a 17-25 start this year and spent most of the season looking up at the Diamondbacks, Padres and Dodgers in the NL West before going on a late surge that earned them a surprising play-off berth.
They won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games, all against division division — including a 9-8 victory against San Diego in a wild-card tiebreaker at Coors Field.
They continued that run in the postseason, sweeping Philadelphia and Arizona before falling short against Boston.
"We came a long ways and we have nothing to be ashamed about." Hawkins said. "We'll walk around and hold our heads up high. We played in the World Series much sooner than people thought we would."
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