The Yankees skipper is gone.
Joe Torre decided to turn down management's offer yesterday; a press conference is scheduled for 2:00 today, so he can give his side of what went down.
Except, since he's always been such a classy guy, I'm not expecting him to point fingers, hem and haw, whine, or otherwise carry on.
No, I expect him to say something keeping within his character: That it was quite a time he had as manager of the Yankees, he's thankful for the World Series wins he has, and will probably say something good about all the men he's managed over the years.
I listened to one of the New York stations this morning, and I agree with one of the announcers, in that I don't think this was a salary issue for Mr. Torre. So what was the issue? He'll probably say something at 2:00, but my speculation is that he thought a one year contract was not enough.
I think he may have felt that with a lot of younger pitchers and other players coming into the mix, it would take more than a year to help them hit their stride, to help them get past the inevitable bumps they're going to have. Although players can sometimes come out like gangbusters the first year or the first few times at bat, sustaining that isn't an easy thing (human nature being what it is). And I think Mr. Torre thought he could nurture those players, bring them along at a pace that would bring them a career rather than a flash in the pan.
(Not that he's a miracle worker; there was one player - whose name escapes me at the moment - who had home runs his first few at bats, a la Shelley Duncan, but who faded from the Yankee scene due to injuries and who-knows-what-else.)
But I digress. It's been 12 years since the Yankees had a different manager, and it already feels strange knowing that Mr. Torre isn't there. I'll survive, and the Yankees will find a different manager, whether it's Mattingly (who shares the exact same birthday - same year, in fact - as my hubby :-)) or somebody else, and Yankee fans will throw cheers and jeers his way, just the same.
Good luck, Mr. Torre, in whatever you decide to do from here on out.
~Nancy Beck
Six Things Writers Need To Stop Worrying About
5 years ago
3 comments:
I didn't know you were a Yankees fan! :-) I am too..when I watch baseball and they're playing. My father in law bought us all tickets to see them play last year. It was awesome even though they lost. Just to be in the infamous/famous Yankee's Stadium!
April,
I've been a Yankees fan forever, probably since my mother first knew she was carrying me. ;-) Yep, my mom and her mom used to go see the then-Yankees farm team, the Newark Bears, in the 1930s-1940s. She grew up in Newark, so it wasn't too hard to get to the stadium.
And, of course, they'd go to Yankee Stadium every once in a while, usually when somebody or another got together a group bus thing.
Went to my first Yankee game 2 years ago. They lost that game, but the weather was quite nice, and I enjoyed the whole thing immensely.
Then, this year, I got tickets again (this was all through an employee committee, so the tickets were pretty good bargains) in one of the loge sections, so we had a nicer view than the first time around (which was out in left field, upper deck).
And brought my mom back to her first Yankees game in about 50 years! (Having babies has a way of cutting into going to sporting events and stuff. ;-))
She then went to another game later in the season - and they won that time, too!
Too bad I couldn't snag 3 tickets to the Wang game at the Stadium - maybe he would've won, the Yankees would've met the Red Sux...
That's what dreams are for, after all. ;-)
My father in law bought us all tickets to see them play last year. It was awesome even though they lost. Just to be in the infamous/famous Yankee's Stadium!
Got that right! :-) As this coming year will be the last year at old Yankee Stadium...hmm...will have to see if I can ante up for tickets again.
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