You Play to Win

Shame on Joe Girardi.

For a guy who butted heads with his ownership in Florida, shame on you.

For a former ballplayer who dealt with the grind of playing catcher, shame on you.

When the Rays' Elliott Johnson ran over promising Yankees catcher Fransisco Cervelli last week, Mr. Girardi cried foul. It's too bad.

A guy like Girardi played tough throughout his career. You cannot withstand the physical and mental part of an 162-game season as a catcher without certain tools. Toughness can make or break a ballplayer. More importantly, toughness translates onto the field, and how you play the game. No one knew this better than Girardi.

Johnson is on a team struggling to make its way out of the cellar of the American League East division. And in fact, with its recent moves, it has got a chance to push its win total towards the middle of the pack. So for Johnson to bowl over a catcher blocking the plate (a fundamentally sound move for a "play at the plate") is neither unheard of or regrettable. Seeing as its spring training, it accentuates the point.

Spring training is for the high-dollar athletes to loosen up and be babied en route to the regular season. But for Johnson, and Cervelli for that matter, its a chance to prove to your superiors that you have what it takes. Hey, if Cervelli was worried about getting hurt and taking it easy in March, he wouldn't have put him self in a position to get bowled over.

So shame on the Yankees for complying with Girardi's argument that spring training is supposed to be taken lightly. The tickets were sold. The food was ushered in. First and foremost, that game was a ball-game for fans.

But then again, this is the organization that just hired Billy Crystal to a minor-league contract.