Life has come full circle for Chicago Cubs catcher Joe Girardi and he seems pretty happy about it. The owner of three World Series rings -- earned during his last four seasons as a member of the New York Yankees -- Girardi is a profile in success.
A native of Peoria, Ill., Girardi is back with the team that he began his major-league career with. The Cubs drafted Girardi out of Northwestern University in Chicago in 1986 and he made his first appearance in the majors during the 1989 season, when the Cubs lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series.
That was the beginning of Girardi's association with a string of playoff teams and after spending a few minutes with the muscular backstop, you get the feeling that it's not luck that his teams excel. There is something about a winner that is exemplified in the way they play and conduct themselves throughout a career.