The Cubs always have been a part of Joe Girardi’s life.
Growing up in Peoria, he watched and listened to Cubs games with his father. The Cubs drafted him in the fifth round in 1986, and he made his major-league debut with them on Opening Day 1989. After playing for the Rockies and Yankees, he returned to the Cubs in 2000 and made the All-Star team.
And when he was done playing and entered broadcasting in 2003, the first game he called was a Cubs-Braves playoff game on ESPN Radio with former Bulls broadcaster Jim Durham.
“I was really nervous,” Girardi said this week.