Girardi to manage Team USA at Olympic qualifier

Former New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi has been selected to lead the United States team as it attempts to qualify for a spot in the 2020 Olympics. Baseball will be an Olympic sport for the first time since 2008 next summer in Tokyo.

USA Baseball chose him to manage the team in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in November. Two teams from among the 12 participants -- the top finisher from the Americas and the top from the Asia/Oceania region -- will join host Japan as the first entrants in the Olympic field. If the U.S. doesn't win the Americas region, it will have a second chance at an Americas tournament in February.

"It is truly an honor to be named the manager for the USA Baseball Premier12 Team," said Girardi, 54. "I was fortunate to wear this very special jersey as a player on the national team in 1985 and it is a privilege to be chosen to wear it once again as a manager." Girardi made it to the final round of tryouts for the 1984 Olympic team, when baseball was still an Olympics demonstration sport. Japan beat the United States 6-3 in the tournament final at Dodger Stadium.

Members of that U.S. team included Will Clark, Barry Larkin and Mark McGwire. "I made it to the final cut," Girardi told MLB.com. "B.J. Surhoff wound up being the starting catcher. That was a wise choice on their part. I still remember seeing all those great players there. I was disappointed that I didn't make the team, but I understood."

Should the United States qualify for the Tokyo Games, Girardi is not guaranteed to be the manager. Girardi served as a major league manager for 11 seasons, leading the Florida Marlins (2006) and the New York Yankees (2008-17) to a cumulative record of 988-794 (.554). The Yankees won the 2009 World Series.

The team Girardi manages this fall is expected to be comprised of minor leaguers, as will the 2020 Olympic team. No players who are on MLB 40-man rosters are eligible for the Premier12 tournament, according to USA Baseball. Team USA will open play against the Netherlands on Nov. 2 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The U.S. then will face Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)