The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Florida Marlins Baseball team owner Jeffrey Loria. He gets the award for firing Joe Girardi, Manager of the Marlins.

MIAMI -- Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi was fired Tuesday, a move that had been expected after his rift with owner Jeffrey Loria boiled over in an on-field confrontation two months ago.

Girardi lost his job even though he's considered a strong candidate for NL manager of the year. The Marlins had baseball's youngest team and lowest payroll at $15 million, but Girardi led them to a 78-84 record, and they were in contention for a playoff berth until a late-September fade.



The cost-conscious Marlins wanted Girardi out so badly they were willing to let him go with two years left on a guaranteed three-year contract he signed in October 2005, when he became a manager for the first time. At 41, he was the second-youngest manager in the major leagues after spending 15 years as a big-league catcher.

Atlanta third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez is considered the front-runner to replace Girardi. Gonzalez was runner-up in the Marlins' search a year ago after Jack McKeon resigned.

Girardi said he was fired during a brief meeting in his office with team president David Samson, general manager Larry Beinfest and assistant general manager Mike Hill. Loria did not attend.

``They came in and said, `We're going to make a change,''' Girardi said. He said no reason was given.

``To hash over what happened doesn't make any sense,'' Girardi said.

Marlins officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

The Marlins didn't waste any time hiring Girardi's replacement, Atlanta Braves coach and former Marlins coach Fredi Gonzalez. According to the Palm Beach Post, Loria secretly hired Gonzalez almost a week ago.

Just another sad chapter in Marlins history. Girardi may be NL Manager of the year, he should be in TFM's opinion. The Marlins were expected to lose 100 games this year and instead finished 78-84 and stayed in the wildcard hunt till a week to go in the season. 2006 was an unqualified sucess, but Girardi is being let go. Why?

I documented the why back in this post. Loria almost fired Girardi two months ago. The owner whose ego is bigger than the ballpark his team plays in, can't handle sucess for it is a threat to him instead of an honor. He destroyed one winning team, now Loria seems bent on destroying another. For being maybe the most idiotic owner in all of professional sports, Jeffrey Loria is today's knucklehead of the day.

Note- Loria won another knucklehead award here.

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