<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <table width="315" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="left"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <div style="width: 300px; padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><object width="300" height="250" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param value="http://bannerfarm.ace.advertising.com/bannerfarm/106410/V3_2007-09-05_300x250_LifeLock_advcom_10-16.swf?AceClick=http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000682679/mnum=0000502683/bnum=55943467&siteValue=0000682679" name="movie" /> <param value="high" name="quality" /> <param value="opaque" name="wmode" /><embed width="300" height="250" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="opaque" quality="high" src="http://bannerfarm.ace.advertising.com/bannerfarm/106410/V3_2007-09-05_300x250_LifeLock_advcom_10-16.swf?AceClick=http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000682679/mnum=0000502683/bnum=55943467&siteValue=0000682679"></embed></object> <noscript></noscript></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div style="padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 10px;"> <script type="text/javascript">adsonar_placementId=1292987;adsonar_pid=769769;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=300;adsonar_zh=175;</script> <script type="text/javascript">cnnad_createSL();</script> <script src="http://js.adsonar.com/js/tw_cnn_adsonar.js" language="javascript" type="text/javascript"></script> <form target="" action="" method="get" name="qas_frm" id="qas_frm"> <input type="hidden" value="" name="ie52_mac_only" /> </form> <iframe width="300" scrolling="no" height="175" frameborder="0" src="http://ads.tw.adsonar.com/adserving/getAds.jsp?previousPlacementIds=&placementId=1292987&pid=769769&ps=-1&zw=300&zh=175&url=http%3A//sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/wires/11/01/2010.ap.bba.yankees.girardi.5th.ld.writethru.0824/&v=5" hspace="0" vspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" id="adsonar_serve5358" name="adsonar_serve5358"></iframe></div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "How many do they have?'' he said, knowing the Yankees have been stuck on 26 championships since 2000.</p> His number will be a constant reminder of his mandate. Still, he wouldn't predict whether his team can win it all next season.</p> "You don't have all the pieces together, so it's hard to evaluate exactly where we're going to be,'' he said.</p> Girardi, who won three World Series titles while catching for the Yankees from 1996-99, talked about how much getting the job meant to him and his father, Jerry.</p> "I try not to get emotional, but my father hasn't spoke in a month. And when the lady who takes care of my father, he has Alzheimer's, showed him the picture of me as the new Yankee manager, my father said, `Oh yeah,''' he said.</p> Girardi takes a job held by Hall of Famers Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel. He follows Joe Torre, who quit two weeks ago and on Thursday became manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.</p> It didn't take Girardi long to find out what it means to be the Yankees manager.</p> "I got a call from Yogi last night and you realize the stature of the position when Yogi calls you at your house and says, `Do I still get to come to spring training?''' Girardi said, lowering his voice to mimic that of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra.</p> Girardi, knowing the Yankees manager is under constant scrutiny, also said he'll change his phone number. Before his news conference, he took a tour of the new Yankee Stadium, under construction across the street and scheduled to open in 2009. He walked by where the clubhouse will be and the path to the dugout.</p> "Just kind of how your every day would be,'' he said. "Tremendous time to have this opportunity, to be a part of the history here, and then to be able to be a part of it in the new stadium is really, really unique. As I was walking through it, smelling the new concrete. And the foul poles were up.''</p> He can only hope he makes it to the new ballpark. Owner George Steinbrenner, while receding from the daily operations, can pop up at any time to criticize his manager. One of their bonds is Northwestern - Steinbrenner was an assistant football coach there, and Girardi later was a student.</p> "I still think the Boss is the Boss. And obviously, I've always enjoyed my time with him, dealing with him. There's times that we've joked about, you know, our Northwestern football vs. Buckeye football and I will continue to enjoy that,'' Girardi said. "He was very congratulatory. He said: `It's great to have you aboard.'''</div></p> Source: SI</p>
