Girardi made special press-level call to spare A-Rod’s feelings

Thankfully Bob Sheppard is still around doing part time PA work…

Yankees manager Joe Girardi made a special call to the public address announcer on the press level during a Yankees playoff game to request that Alex Rodriguez not be named when Girardi pinch-hit Eric Chavez for A-Rod, people familiar with the situation said.

So when Chavez went in for A-Rod, only Chavez’s name was announced, not A-Rod’s. Typically the announcement contains the names of both the player who is pinch hitting and the person who is being pinch-hit for.

The call by Girardi from the dugout did occur, confirmed general manager Brian Cashman.

Cashman said he believes it showed the lengths to which Girardi went to protect A-Rod’s feelings. Such a call is very unusual.

Rodriguez was pinch-hit for and benched multiple times during a postseason in which he went 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts vs. right-handed pitchers. Overall he was 3 for 25.

Cashman said he didn’t believe the decision to protect A-Rod was the brainchild of Chad Bohling, the club’s influential director of mental conditioning, but rather was Girardi’s idea. Bohling, who came to the Yankees late in Joe Torre’s tenure, is extremely well-regarded within the organization, Cashman said.