Girardi stops to help after Series win

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2009 MLB Playoffs

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Hours after guiding the New York Yankees to a World Series championship, manager Joe Girardi stopped along a suburban parkway on his way home to help a woman whose car had crashed into a wall, The (Westchester) Journal News reported.

Early Thursday morning, Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano congratulated Girardi on the World Series win as he passed through a drunken-driving enforcement checkpoint, according to the newspaper. Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte, who had started in the Series clincher, had passed through the same checkpoint earlier, she said.

About 15 minutes later, Cristiano was among the first responders to a one-car accident on the Cross County Parkway in Eastchester. She was surprised to again see Girardi, this time trying to flag down assistance, according to the report.

“

The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help. It was totally surreal.

” -- Westchester officer Kathleen Cristiano

"The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help," said Cristiano, according to The Journal News. "It was totally surreal."

Girardi told WFAN-AM that he was "really concerned" because of damage to the car. He says he had his wife call 911 and then approached the mangled vehicle.

The driver of the car in the accident, 27-year-old Marie Henry of Stratford, Conn., was able to get out of the car by the time police arrived, and she was shaken but unhurt, according to the report.

"She had no idea who I was," Girardi said. "I think the important thing is, you know, obviously there's a lot of joy in what we do, but we can't forget to be human beings where we help others out. I think that's the most important thing we can do in life."

Girardi, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, then told them he "had to get going," according to the newspaper.

"The driver didn't know it was him until after I told her," Cristiano told The Journal News.

In stopping to help, Girardi took a risk by running across the eastbound lanes of the parkway near a notorious blind curve, county Sgt. Thomas McGurn said, according to the report.

"He could have gotten killed," McGurn said, according to the report. "Traffic goes by at 80 mph."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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