Joe Girardi doesn't regret confronting heckler
Yankees manager Joe Girardi walks off the field to cheers from the crowd after being tossed by third base umpire Tim Welke after arguing about a double by Detroit Tigers' Andy Dirks that hit down the left field line in the fifth inning. (Aug. 9, 2012) Credit: AP
CLEVELAND — Joe Girardi hasn’t seen the video of Wednesday’s confrontation with a heckler and doesn’t plan to see it. But he has zero regrets.
“My wife and kids were there, other kids were there,” he said Friday. “I don’t think our families should be subject to that. I’m going to protect my family.”
During his postgame meeting with reporters in Chicago — in a hallway outside the clubhouse where dugout suite fans walk toward the exits — Girardi interrupted the session and strode toward a heckler who was yelling at him.
“They can heckle me, they can say whatever they want to me,” he said. “But when my wife and kids are there, it’s a different story.”
What irritated Girardi most was that “no one did anything,” meaning U.S. Cellular Field security. A member of the security detail stationed outside the Yankees’ clubhouse did not move off the golf cart he was sitting on until the manager took off in the heckler’s direction.
“I would never touch anyone,” Girardi said. “I was just trying to make the point, can someone do something about this? What really perturbed me is no one did anything about it.” He added: “I’ve never hit anyone in my life. I don’t think I’m going to start at 47.”
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