Joe Girardi Called The Yankee Stadium P.A. Announcer To Tell Him Not To Announce A-Rod's Exit From The Game

The Yankees are so classy. Aren't they? Class organization. The class of baseball. The class of class. The classy class of class. Just how classy are the Yankees? They'll throw their best players under the bus to prove their class! Here's Jon Heyman:

Yankees manager Joe Girardi made a special call to the public address announcer on the press level during a Yankees playoff game to request that Alex Rodriguez not be named when Girardi pinch hit Eric Chavez for A-Rod, people familiar with the situation said.

So when Chavez pinch hit for A-Rod, only Chavez's name was announced, not A-Rod's. Typically the announcement contains the names of both the player who is pinch hitting as well as the person who was being pinch-hit for.

The call by Girardi from the dugout did occur, confirmed general manager Brian Cashman.

Cashman said he believes it showed what lengths Girardi went through to protect A-Rod's feelings. Such a call is very unusual.

Calling attention to the team's supposedly benevolent gesture—which was to shield A-Rod from attention—undoes the gesture and the benevolence. But it sure does make the Yankees seem classy. Class move by a classy organization.

Girardi made special press-level call to shield A-Rod's feelings [CBS Sports]