OPINION

By Ryan Fagan

updated 1:44 a.m. ET Nov. 5, 2009

A couple of hours before Game 1 of the World Series, Joe Girardi spoke with reporters in the interview room at Yankee Stadium. Someone asked how he felt to be in this position after what must have seemed like an epically long two-year managerial stint with the Yankees.

After all, Girardi's team didn't even make the playoffs in 2008. Injuries were a big factor, but the Yankees had made the postseason each of the previous 13 seasons before Girardi took over. Six weeks into this season, his team was mired in third place in the AL East.

But after all of that, here he was as the skipper of the first New York team to reach the World Series since 2003.

"I think you grow from all experiences, whether they're bad experiences or good experiences," Girardi said. "I wouldn't necessarily consider last year a bad experience. It was an experience that I got a chance to be the Yankee manager and I learned a lot. You learn a lot about your team. The more time you spend with the players and have most of those guys back, you understand them better. You know what they need better. You know how many days in a row that they can play and be productive, better."

Girardi has done a better job this season, and his team has been more productive. Sure, there have been criticisms of his decisions and his tendency to "overmanage." And, sure, the 2009 Yankees added studs in CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett in the offseason. But it hasn't always been easy.

A timeline of the obstacles Girardi and his Yankees had to overcome to deliver the franchise's record 27th World Series title:

Spring training
The momentum from the free-agent signings of Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett came to a crashing halt amid a report in early February that superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez was on the list of 104 players who had tested positive for steroids in 2003. Countless news organizations descended on the Yankees' spring camp to get their piece of the story. Hectic doesn't even begin to describe the scene.

April

Slideshow   Yankees win their 27th World Series Check out all the best action from the World Series. more photos

The start of the season was delayed by the World Baseball Classic, and the Yankees' ascent to the top of the A.L. East was delayed by the other teams in the American League. By the end of April, the Yankees were only two games above .500 and in third place in the division.

May
Things got worse quickly. The Yankees lost five of their first six games in the month and were 13-15 before A-Rod made his season debut May 8 (hip surgery sidelined him for the first 28 games). Teixeira, who was signed to add offensive punch, was hitting just .198 when A-Rod debuted. Firing Girardi might have been rash at that point, but it wouldn't have been shocking.

June/July/August
By this point, the Yankees finally were cruising. They reached the top of the division by going 33-20 in June and July, but the Red Sox were lurking a few games back. And Boston had absolutely owned the Yankees in 2009, winning the season's first eight meetings between the rivals. Two August series between the team could have been the Yankees' downfall. However, the Yankees went 6-1 against Boston in August to claim control of the division. Hurdle cleared.

The stretch run
There wasn't much day-to-day pressure, as the Yankees' lead never dipped below five games after they finished a four-game sweep of the Red Sox in early August. But then other questions arose. Could the Yankees win the World Series for the first time since 2000? Could a team with A-Rod finally win the big one? Could the 1-2 rotation punch of newcomers Sabathia and Burnett get the job done in the postseason? Would the Yankees let this opportunity slip away, like they had so often since 2000? Could Girardi really manage this legendary franchise to its 27th championship?

That last question was one Girardi still was trying to figure out himself. "I'm a firm believer that you never stop learning in life," he said in that same interview before Game 1. "I'll continue to learn. And you try to take those experiences and just do a better job each and every day."

With No. 27 in the books, consider it a job well done.

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