ouch, hope the Yanks can wrap up the ALDS tonight then, it's kinda hard to take a greivence leave in the playoffs...

Girardi has managed the entire ALDS since his father, Jerry, died Saturday at the age of 81.

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He was asked if it would be "tough" to manage the club on Thursday.

I saw the interview and immediately thought, "What an asinine question." Understandable if his father had died today or last night, but it was 5 days ago. Joe has managed 3 games since then. Just because today is the first day the media found out shouldn't make tonight any harder or easier for Joe.

As an aside, my father died a few weeks ago. Like Joe's dad, mine had been suffering from a form of Altzheimer's for 2 years. When he finally passed, we all breathed a sigh of relief. I cannot imagine living like that for 10 years. It would not surprise me if Joe, like me, finally felt a burden lift. And I don't mean that in a selfish way. It tore me up to see him like that. He long ago forgot who I or my sisters were. He never talked to anybody. The man was a genius in automation, and now he just sat in front of the TV watching Judge Judy all day long and spent his life savings paying somebody to wipe his ass. Horrible, and I wish him well where ever he's gone.

"When he finally passed, we all breathed a sigh of relief."

Anyone who doesn't understand that honest observation has led a charmed life in a very important respect. Trust me. Trust misirlou.

Condolences on your loss.

The original nypost.com headline on this was "Girardi's father passes away, will manage Yankees tonight"...

#2 and #3 hit the nail on the head. My grandfather also suffered from Alzheimer's. At first it wasn't so bad: he remembered my dad, he remembered me. He didn't remember my younger sister, but my dad had been more-or-less estranged with his parents for a long time; they spent time with me as a very young child but not her.

As time went on, we knew he had to be moved into a facility of some kind. Like many sufferers, he could remember things from high school clearly but not what he just said five minutes ago. By the time he was in there, he only remembered my dad, and after a while, not even that. He lived a few more years like this before he eventually passed, and absolutely we all breathed a sigh of relief.

In some ways, when a sufferer finally dies, it's not exactly a grief situation, as the loved one you once knew was gone a long time prior.

Nice profile on Girardi in a recent New Yorker, which I came cross in my "catch-up" pile.

In some ways, when a sufferer finally dies, it's not exactly a grief situation, as the loved one you once knew was gone a long time prior.

Those are my feelings exactly. I said goodbye to my dad a couple of years ago. Now I'm getting condolence cards and calls, and I don't know how to respond. I politely say a brief thanks and move on.

edit: Howie, this was not a dig on you BTW. I was moved by your response in #3. I knew I wasn't alone in my feelings about the whole issue, and it was nice to get some confirmation.