Yankees begin life without Alex Rodriguez
NEW YORK — Life wasn’t much different for Joe Girardi on Saturday morning.
That is, until the New York Yankees manager arrived at the ballpark. For Girardi and the organization, it was Day 1 of life after Alex Rodriguez.
Rodriguez retired following Friday night’s game and was released by the team early Saturday.
“I have a lineup card and his name’s not on there,” Girardi said in his pregame news conference. “And there’s not another Rodriguez in our organization at this level that makes me think he’s there. It’s different.”
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A new era was rung in Saturday, with 24-year-olds Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin, two of the organization’s top prospects, both making their much-anticipated big league debuts. It was A-Rod’s departure that opened up a roster spot for Austin.
Both players homered in their first at-bats Saturday.
“(Friday) night was special,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “It was great for Alex. Great for the fans. And great for the win column, and he impacted that as well. But the roster has been changing a lot. Today is a new day, but it’s been a new day quite often lately.
“We’ve had a lot of quality people we’ve had to say goodbye to. But also a lot of quality people we’re saying hello to. It’s the nature of the beast.”
The Yankees ushered in and celebrated an bygone era Saturday, as the 1996 World Series championship team was honored with a pregame, on-field ceremony. The name Alex Rodriguez wasn’t mentioned once in a half-hour group interview with Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Bernie Williams following the event.
“I knew it would be different (Saturday),” Girardi said. “You expect him to be around here laughing, joking around. But this is part of the game. That’s the difficult part about this. Players move on. Players retire.
“New faces come in. You make new relationships. You think of all the great players to walk not just through these doors, but the doors across the street (at the old Yankee Stadium), it’s difficult every time. But the game goes on.”
Members of the Yankees’ famed Core Four, along with former manager Joe Torre and former teammate Robinson Cano did issue statements on A-Rod’s retirement on Friday prior to his last game in pinstripes.
Jeter said Rodriguez “lives and breathes baseball.” Pettitte claimed “he was a big reason we were able to win the 2009 World Series.” Posada added “he was also one of the smartest players on the field.”
Only Torre’s statement even hinted at what made Rodriguez, who leaves the game with 696 career home runs, fourth most all-time, one of the most polarizing and controversial players in baseball history.
“Baseball teaches all of us at some point,” Torre said, referring to Rodriguez’s well-chronicled past involving performance-enhancing drug use, which eventually led to a season-long suspension in 2014.
“And I think he should be proud of the way he carried himself these last two years.”
Conrad writes for the Bergan (County) Record, part of the USA TODAY Network
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