Joe Torre - A Class Act

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