“I’m goin’ to Disneyland!”
…Or so went the story of what champions used to say to the camera after winning the world championship. In an inspiring twist to a great evening for Gotham, New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi provided the icing on a great night by performing a Good Samaritan act on his way home.
So, instead of being in a wild celebration in need of a designated driver, Girardi was being good and doing good, at the same time!
It seems that on his way home from winning the World Series, Girardi was on a “curvy stretch of highway on the outskirts of New Rochelle. He came upon a car wreck and stopped to help a girl involved in it. The full story is here.
“She had no idea who I was,” Girardi told a radio interviewer.
It turns out the “she” was Marie Henry, 27, of Stratford, Connecticut, who said Girardi “sprinted across three lanes of traffic to come to her aid.”

A Yankee spokesman later said “A lot of people know him as ‘Joe Girardi, the manager of the New York Yankees,’ but Joe is someone who puts other people first.The easy thing would have been for him to just drive by. But I think it shows a lot about his character.”
I think it’s a neat story, and also points out an interesting fact: that there are probably thousands upon thousands of wonderful and heroic acts of character that Americans take on every day, week or month, but it seems to make the news when someone famous does it. I don’t mind so much–because anything that’s positive is good news by me–but it’s just a thing, that when someone famous does it, it’s news.
With all of the negative stories about sports stars today, I love hearing a great story about a good guy. It’s a welcome change of pace. I’ll add, though, a nod going out to all of those who know a story will never be written but they do the right thing anyway. And I hope a story such as Girardi’s rescue of Ms. Henry spurs us all on to become a little bit better version of ourselves, starting with the next chance we have to do something selfless.
Oh, yes, and one more thing: it amazes me how much people use the term “Good Samaritan” to describe such acts, but don’t dive into the rest of the Jesus story quite as seriously. But that’s for another post! Way ta go, Joe Giradi! Nicely done.