The New York Yankees have decided to part ways with longtime manager Joe Girardi, who just completed a four-year contract and his 10th overall season as skipper of the Bronx Bombers.

Since taking the reins of the team in 2008, Girardi led the Yankees to a 910-710 record in the regular season and a World Series title in 2009. New York went deep into the postseason this year, losing the American League Championship Series to the Houston Astros in seven games.

Before becoming a manager, Girardi played 15 seasons as a catcher in the major leagues. His professional playing career began in the Midwest League, for his hometown Peoria Chiefs in 1986. The then-Chicago Cubs farmhand batted .309 with 3 HR, 28 RBI and 6 SB in 68 games with the Chiefs. He later played three more games with Peoria, when the team was a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate in 2003. During that rehab stint, he went 1-for-9 with an RBI and two strikeouts.

Earlier this month, the Boston Red Sox fired manager John Farrell, who pitched in the Midwest League in 1984. (You can read how he did in this recent post.) Next year will be the first time since 1992 that both the Yankees and the Red Sox have new managers. Those 1992 managers were Buck Showalter for the Yankees and Butch Hobson for the Red Sox. Showalter just finished his seventh full season as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, while Hobson spent the 2017 season in the Midwest League, leading the Kane County Cougars to a 72-65 record and the first-half Western Division playoff berth. (The Cougars were knocked out of the playoffs by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who swept Kane County in the first round.)

Former Boston Red Sox skipper Butch Hobson managed the Kane County Cougars this year. (Photo by Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler)