If you want to draw the conclusion that Manager Joe Girardi — with his jut-jawed, crew-cut appearance, his degree in engineering and the phone-book-thick binder he once kept at his ready in the dugout — is meticulous in his preparation, who is he to argue?
Asked before last Sunday’s regular-season finale — the Yankees’ only meaningless game of the season — if he would do anything frivolous, he said, “I didn’t do quite as many charts as I usually do today, so that was fun for me.”
So it was curious on Friday night when Girardi, relentless in his search for any edge, rejected one that was right in front of him, choosing not to ask for a video review after the home-plate umpire incorrectly ruled that the Cleveland Indians’ Lonnie Chisenhall had been hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.