By Mark La Monica
That Yankee post-game presser with Joe Torre was pretty sad. Torre, to his credit as a class act, didn't entertain any questions before he had the chance to give the proverbial albeit metaphoric tipping of the cap to Cleveland for smoking his Yankees in four games.
After that, the questions and answers took on an ominous and reflective tone. Who knows what will happen in the next few days? The Boss may stick to his claim from Saturday night that if the Yanks lose the ALDS, Torre won't return. He's perfectly within his right to not re-sign Torre after 12 seasons as Yankees skipper. Or, Steinbrenner may give him one more shot. Again, no one really knows for sure.
In the past few years, Yankees fans have been like Radio Rahim's four-finger rings from "Do The Right Thing" when it came to their opinions on Joe Torre as skipper. It was either love or hate. Again, they're all perfectly within their right to feel as they feel.
But, in this week's edition of "Three Reasons," we've come up with three reasons to always love Joe Torre's tenure as Yankees manager, regardless of what may occur in the next few days.
1) The Ultimate New Yorker
He was a Brooklyn boy, born and raised. He came to New York with little more than a reputation as an average manager at best (894-1,003 record, .471). Who could forget the "Clueless Joe" back page cover of the Daily News the day after Steinbrenner hired him after the 1995 season? How did Torre respond? By bringing the city its first World Series parade in 18 years. Then, for fun, he did it three more times in the next four seasons.
A dozen straight years in the postseason ain't too shabby either (1,173-767, .605). Of course, the talent and resources didn't hurt either. Torre came to New York perceived as a retread manager. He'll leave New York, whenever that is, as an icon. And he's immediately employable by any team he wishes. It's the quintessential New York story of making it here, then making it anywhere.
2) A mostly clean dozen
Torre managed in New York, for the Yankees, for George Steinbrenner, for 12 years. That's impressive and worthy of praise, regardless of what you think of Joe's recent postseason troubles. Sure, he had his run-ins (or was it more George having his run-ins), but to last that long under the Boss is record-setting.
3) "Uncle Joey"
Torre is Italian. As is La Russa, Bowa and Girardi. But only Torre has that "Uncle Joey" quality, that ability to appear as an everyman to the working-class fan. Basically, if you saw Torre sitting in a diner, Yankee fan or not, you'd want to send him a few black-and-white cookies and a glass of Bigelow green tea. You'd then want to go ask him for advice about your personal life. You'd then follow that advice and start most sentences with "It's like Joe Torre told me when I asked him what to do about this girl that I like." He's our "Uncle Joey."