Meet the Mets (and Yankees) managers

I had a chance to go to an event this morning featuring Terry Collins and Joe Girardi, who took questions for half an hour at the Audi Club in Yankee Stadium. The event was hosted by Dunkin' Donuts in conjunction with their new commercial starring Collins and Girardi.

Both managers seemed a lot more friendly and relaxed than they often come across in their post-game interviews. Girardi asked Collins why his roster had 26 players at the moment and Collins told him it was because someone (Chris Young) was on paternity leave. Then Collins added, "When we play you, we need 26!"

Someone said they saw a tweet that injured Yankee prospect Austin Romine is cleared to resume baseball activities and Girardi quipped that it was amazing how many things he learns through tweets.

Later, someone mentioned blogging to Girardi, who said, "Me blog? Oh no. Tweet? No."

Collins was asked about how the Mets' farm system has helped out the big club this season and he smiled and said they were going to "run out of shortstops."

Both managers praised hard-working veterans (David Wright and Andy Pettitte) for setting examples for the younger players. Girardi noted that the whole rotation has improved since Pettitte came back, though also noted that along with inspiring his colleagues, perhaps the other starters were also now afraid of losing their jobs. 

Girardi had an interesting observation about the Subway Series. When asked about what it was like to play at Yankee Stadium with a lot of Met fans in attendance, Girardi said that now he sees what other teams feel like when the Yankees go on the road.

After the Q and A, I had a chance to shake hands with both managers. (No, Lisa, I did not get a chance to shake hands with Cuppy, the Dunkin' Donuts mascot, who was also present.)

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Tonight, I'll be returning to Yankee Stadium for the second time in one day for the first game of the Subway Series. Lisa has had far more memorable Subway Series moments that I have (at least positive ones), so I'm hoping that I can be her jinx tonight for a change.