The son of this MLB manager is hoping to make ‘sharp’ impression as freshman with FIU

Baseball is the family business, but whenever Dante Girardi’s playing days are over, he has a different career in mind:

Fashion.

To borrow a line from ZZ Top, Girardi, 18, said he grew up admiring some of baseball’s “sharp dressed men” such as Starlin Castro and Aroldis Chapman. Those players, who competed for Girardi’s father, former New York Yankees and current Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi, clearly had an impact on Dante.

“I’ve already started designing clothes, and I was getting stuff made in Italy when the coronavirus hit,” said Girardi, a 5-11, 195-pounder. “Fashion is kind of my hidden secret.”

What is more well known about Dante Girardi is that the incoming FIU freshman middle infielder can really hit.

A four-year starter at Broward’s Calvary Christian, Girardi hit .359 with 21 doubles, six triples, four homers, 38 RBI and a .967 OPS in 284 prep at-bats.

“He’s got plus bat speed and power,” said Gil Morales, who is in his first year as Calvary’s coach. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he hits double-figure homers at some point at FIU.”

Girardi, who was a team captain in the abbreviated 2020 season, said he tried to “soak up” as much knowledge as possible in all those years hanging out in big-league locker-rooms with his father, and it’s obviously worked.

Alan Kunkel, who coached Calvary the past three years before taking a job as a University of South Florida assistant, said Girardi’s leadership ability is elite.

“Dante is relentless in his approach to baseball,” Kunkel said. “His intangibles are off the charts. He cares deeply about his teammates, but he will also challenge them every day.”

While Girardi’s hitting appears to be his best tool, his “baseball IQ” helps him in all situations.

“He’s a good defender because he understands angles and situations,” Morales said. “He can make up for arm strength because of a quick release, and his first-step read is so good.”

Morales previously coached infielder Austin Martin at Jacksonville’s Trinity Christian. Martin was just a 37th-round pick out of high school but is being projected as the top overall selection in the 2020 MLB Draft on June 10.

No one is predicting Girardi will make that same monumental jump while at FIU. But Morales said Girardi has similar power and throwing ability at the same stage in their careers.

Dax Norris, who is FIU’s hitting instructor under coach Mervyl Melendez, said he is hoping Girardi continues to progress.

“Who’s to say Dante won’t develop into a first-rounder?” Norris said.

“Dante has seen big-league guys up close, and he won’t be in awe of college baseball. He’ll be ready to go right away because he’s more mature than most freshmen.”

Girardi, who was named after family friend and former major-league slugger Dante Bichette, is one of three freshmen middle infielders expected to arrive at FIU this fall. Girardi would also have to beat out several FIU veterans in order to earn playing time.

Then again, Girardi seems up for the challenge. He’s a good overall athlete, playing football (quarterback) and basketball until he suffered a broken wrist while taking a sack as a sophomore.

After that, he dropped football and basketball, although he has “dabbled” in mixed martial arts. He is such a workout fanatic that he talks to his trainer, Robert Peter Oristaglio, on an “hourly basis.”

Girardi, who also drew recruiting interest from schools such as Wake Forest and Florida, has had the good fortune to be around elite baseball for virtually his entire life. His father won three World Series titles as a Yankees catcher. Joe Girardi was also with the Marlins in 2006 when he was named National League Manager of the Year.

In 2009, Girardi managed the Yankees to their most recent World Series championship, beating the Phillies in six games.

“I was at that title game at Yankee Stadium,” Dante Girardi said. “The game finished one minute after midnight, making it my birthday [Nov. 5].”

Girardi said he had a fever of 103 that night, but he was surely feeling no pain.

But as good as that experience was, Girardi and his father truly enjoyed the past two years. With Joe in between managing jobs, he was able to coach his son in summer-league games.

“That was so enjoyable,” Joe Girardi told the Miami Herald. “In 10 years of managing in New York, I probably saw him play only about 25 baseball games. I saw him play plenty of football and basketball games, but mostly in baseball I watched videos taken by my wife [Kim].

“But the past two years, I was able to hit him ground balls, throw batting practice – whatever he needed – and it was special for me.”

Dante Girardi said the car rides before and after those summer-league games were the best part because it was father-and-son time, and they used much of it — of course — to talk baseball.

“Dante is a winner,” Joe Girardi said when asked to assess his son’s ability. “He loves the game. He will do whatever it takes to win — in a good way — with his work ethic and drawing the best out of his teammates.”