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ESPN’s Linda Cohn put New York Yankees pitcher and University of Alabama alum David Robertson on the spot Thursday by asking him who he thought was a better leader — his current manager Joe Girardi, or Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.

After a brief pause, Robertson gave the nod to Saban.

“This is nothing against Joe Girardi,” he said, “but I’m going to have to give it to Nick Saban because he has three national championships with Alabama.”

If championships is the measure Robertson uses to measure leadership, he’s got a point. As he said, Saban has multiple championships while Girardi’s only World Series title came in 2009. And you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’d say Saban isn’t a world class leader. But it’s still a gutsy move to chose another coach over your own skipper.

“Roll Tide,” Cohn said. “Roll Tide,” Robertson replied.

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