"It's very special," he said. "Being here as a player and going through that, all the excitement and anticipation, and then getting a chance to do it is a manager . . . I'm extremely blessed."
The Yankees reached this point in part because they are an excellent team and in part because the teams they faced in the first two rounds, the Twins and Angels, were uncharacteristically sloppy.
And New York took advantage.
"We had big players do big things," Girardi said. "And that's why we got a chance to go to the World Series."
In the midst of celebrating a clinch, Girardi understandably was not focused on the Phillies.
"I don't know," he said when asked what kind of opponent he expected the Phils to be. "They're really tough. They're the defending champs. They've been playing extremely well. Their offense is very strong. Their pitching has been very strong in the playoffs. We know they're an extremely tough opponent."
By now, Girardi has received a voluminous scouting report on the Phillies. He also has the benefit of having seen the NL team firsthand during interleague play at the new Yankee Stadium. And while history suggests there's no carry-over from the regular season to the postseason, he's acutely aware that the Phillies did win two of three:
* May 22: Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a home run against A.J. Burnett. Carlos Ruiz, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez also homered before the Phillies completed a 7-3 win.
It was Burnett's seventh straight start without a win, the longest streak of his career since 2005. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who missed the first month of the season recovering from hip surgery, went 2-for-4, including a homer. It was his first multiple-hit game of the season. Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira homered in the eighth.
