Joe Girardi speaks with the media about the passing of his father prior to Game 3 of the ALDS. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP) — The father of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi has died.
The Deiters Funeral Home says Jerry Girardi died Saturday at 81. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease since the 1990s and died in Metamora, Ill.
The Yankees were set to play Game 4 of the AL division series Thursday night against Baltimore and Girardi was at Yankee Stadium. New York leads 2-1 in the best-of-five matchup, and Girardi has been with the team for every game.
Jerry Girardi served in the U.S. Air Force in the Korean War and worked in construction sales and as a bricklayer, according to an obituary on the funeral home’s website.
A funeral is scheduled for Monday in Peoria. His wife, Angela, died in 1984. The couple had four sons and a daughter.
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