'Asked if Loria had fired him and changed his mind, Girardi replied: "I'll discuss things at the end of the year..."
'Loria, occupying his field-level seat next to the Marlins dugout, was barking at plate umpire Larry Vanover about balls and strikes. Girardi motioned for Loria to stop, one source said, the implication being, "Hey, leave him alone, we're trying to win a game."
'Loria, according to two sources, then put up two fingers to indicate that it was the second straight game in which umpires made questionable calls. On Saturday, Girardi had been ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
"Then Girardi said, 'Just stay out of it. I'm the manager.'" one source said. "And Loria said, 'Well, I'm the owner,' or words to that effect. 'If you don't like what I'm telling you, you're fired.'"
'Another source said Girardi used profanities when telling Loria to stop, which angered Loria even more.
'At that point, "Loria got up out of his seat and was preparing to get rid of Joe," one source said. "Jeffrey can be very knee-jerk. Before he was done walking up the aisle, Jeffrey made up his mind to fire Joe right after the game.''
'At one point, team aides were setting up a Dolphin Stadium interview room, which is used by the Marlins for major announcements.
'It was only after Marlins President David Samson, General Manager Larry Beinfest and Assistant General Manager Mike Hill intervened during a post-game meeting in Girardi's office that Loria changed his mind.
'"They stopped and thought about this, that it would be a public relations nightmare if the resurging Florida Marlins were to have fired a man who turned them around," a source said.
'When the doors to Girardi's office opened, the manager then addressed his team. With Loria watching, Girardi apologized for losing his temper with Loria in full view of players in the dugout.
'Marlins players on Friday refused to talk about Sunday's incident. One person said the players and coaches "were sworn to secrecy."
'Sources have told The Palm Beach Post that Girardi, a former New York Yankees catcher and bench coach, and Loria have been at odds since at least last month.
'"(Girardi) likes to say, 'Well, the Yankees would do things this way,' but they don't want to hear that," one source said.
'A Marlins source confirmed a report Friday in the Rocky Mountain News that said friction between Girardi and the front office began in spring training.' (PalmBeachPost)
That Rocky Mountain News article was by Tracy Ringolsby, who reported...
'Girardi was Loria's handpicked manager, but Loria has become concerned about Girardi's controlling personality that has been compared with that of Texas manager Buck Showalter.
'Problems began during spring training when Girardi belittled suggestions by members of the organization that Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson should be in the rotation instead of middle relief, where they opened the season. It was more than a month before Girardi backed down and gave both opportunities to start, which turned out to be a critical factor as the Marlins rebounded from a miserable start to be competitive....
'Girardi has had friends making it known in Chicago that he would like the Cubs job. The Cubs, however, aren't interested.' (FortWayne.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment