Girardi Proved Wellman Right
Ron Wellman, Wake Forest’s director of athletics, is at the World Series, courtesy of one of his former players.
Before giving up coaching for athletics administration, Wellman was the head baseball coach at Northwestern. He did well, especially when he had Joe Girardi as his catcher.
“He was as good a person and as tough a player as I’ve ever coached,’’ Wellman said last summer when we were putting together our profile on him.. “We had another catcher who was more skilled than Joe. And after every fall season I always met with the players individually. I told Joe at least two years that `Scott has a better arm than you, and he hits with a little more power and he runs a little better than you. But you’re not coming out of any game unless you ask to come out.’
“His heart and his leadership and his tenacity were just off the charts.’‘
Wellman is not the only person in Winston-Salem to have followed Girardi’s career as a catcher in the Major Leagues for the Cubs, Rockies, Yankees and Cardinals and manager of the Marlins and Yankees. I was covering the Winston-Salem Spirits in 1987, when Girardi was the regular catcher in his second season in the Cubs’ organization. I knew he had a degree in Industrial Engineering, and I could see how every time I talked with him. At 22, he was as articulate, focused and on point as any Minor League player I’ve ever come across.
As preposterous as sounds in hindsight, the Northwestern admission’s office balked at Girardi’s transcript.
“I went to our admissions office and said `Listen, if this kid doesn’t graduate you can have my job. I haven’t been evaluating people well. This kid will graduate,’’ Wellman recalls saying. ” Well he was a three time Academic All-American in Industrial Engineering. He was just one of those kids who you knew, whatever he did, he was going to succeed.
“He had the whole package.’‘
And tonight he’s managing the New York Yankees in the World Series and his college coach is on hand watching.