BILL PENNINGTON
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
09-29-1996
JOE'S VISION OPENED EYES
By BILL PENNINGTON
Date: 09-29-1996, Sunday
Section: SPORTS
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
Biographical: JOE TORRE
We had a good laugh, most of us did, on Nov. 2, 1995.
Joe Torre was named the new Yankees manager, and he said things
like: 'I'm coming into this with my eyes wide open.'
Oh, how naive. How sad.
The poor man doesn't have a clue. George will chew him up, gnaw on
him until there's nothing left. At the luncheon announcing Joe Torre's
hiring, one question circulated the room: How long do you give him?
No one gave Joe Torre a chance past July. As it happened, George
Steinbrenner did not even wait that long, surreptitiously trying to
convince Buck Showalter to return to the Yankees in a top secret meeting
just days after Torre was introduced as the new manager.
How sad. Poor Joe.
Joe Torre, cigar in mouth, can laugh at all of us now. It is we who
misread this man, who underestimated his ability to adapt, to endure. It
has been 11 months in the Yankees crucible. They have been some of the
longest days of his life, and they have been some of the best.
Steinbrenner may yet fire him in two weeks, two months, or two
years, but the 1996 Yankees season is one tribute to Joe Torre's
unwavering poise. He is a symbol of this long season, the placid, serene
force moving across the days and weeks. He is the duck cruising across
the pond -- propelled, it seems, without effort, all the while churning
with energy beneath the surface.
Because if you think Torre has not longed for this success, you are
wrong. A couple of weeks ago, talking about how he had never played or
managed in the World Series despite 37 years in Major League Baseball,
56-year-old Joe Torre said he would keep coming back to the game 'until
I get it right.'
And this past week, on the day after the Yankees had clinched the
American League East, Torre allowed that he woke up a different man.
'It was the first day all year that I got out of bed without a
concern, without a question on my mind, without thinking that there were
decisions to make, things to settle or figure out,' he said. 'It was an
unbelievable relief.'
So you know he has felt the pressures even if he has masked them in
cigar smoke. In a year when he has had to endure the death of one
brother and the ongoing health problems of another, Torre has also
played shepherd to a diverse roster of young, old, multi-experienced,
and multilingual players -- with all the baseball world, and one
omnipresent owner, watching.
He has had players handed to him he did not seek and lost players
he never wanted to do without. He has observed the media circus from the
center ring, showing the ability to be pleasant and honest without
causing a stir. Best of all, he can, and does, sit in a roomful of
reporters completely silent when silence is the best option.
'He feels things a lot more than he shows,' Yankees third base
coach Willie Randolph said last week. 'He's very emotional. When you sit
next to him on the bench, he jumps and flinches, but then he catches
himself and holds it in.
'I've played for or been around a lot of managers, from Billy
[Martin] and Lou [Piniella] to Dick Howser and Tommy Lasorda to Tony La
Russa, and Joe is remarkable for how steady he can be. I admire him for
how he could keep his personality so stable throughout the whole
season.'
And since he is so undemonstrative in public, there are many things
about him that are little known. And herewith, a short sampler of the
unseen Joe Torre:
Joe Torre, the sentimentalist:
When the Yankees were one inning from clinching their division
title, Torre carefully selected the pitcher he wanted on the mound for
the final out.
'It was very important that it be someone who has gone through the
whole struggle, since spring training,' Torre said. 'I wanted someone
who's been with us the whole way.' He found reliever Jeff Nelson, a
pitcher who bedeviled Torre with his inconsistency through the summer,
but someone Torre continues to embrace as integral to the fold.
Joe Torre, the players' manager:
'It's not enough to look at a guy's stats and say he's not doing
his job,' said Torre. 'I hit .360 in the majors one season and .240 in
another season. And I know I was trying just as hard both times.'
Joe Torre, the humorist:
Asked if he expected to testify at the late October hearing
concerning the validity of the Graeme Lloyd trade, Torre answered: 'I'm
glad you reminded me of that. I'll have my boarding pass to somewhere by
then.'
Joe Torre, the loyal friend:
Asked if he would be upset if embattled general manager Bob Watson
was fired, as most expect, Torre said: 'Bob brought me here. We're a
team. You'd have a tough time telling me he didn't do a good job.'
And finally, Joe Torre, the compassionate:
Reading the congratulatory fax sent to him by Don Mattingly, Torre
said: 'You know it has to be tugging at him to have only gotten a taste
of it last year. I wish he were here.'
It is just about 11 months since Torre was handed the Yankees'
helm, and given the state of the team then, it is just about a miracle
that he is still here, still in the job. You can say that the Yankees
had loads of talent, but it is never the pieces alone that make a unit
powerful. It is how they are used. When the pieces are people -- or to
increase the challenge, multimillionaires pampered since high school --
managing a baseball team is indeed a craft not to be underestimated.
And consider that Torre is the 13th man across 23 seasons to manage
Steinbrenner's Yankees. He is just the fourth to lead George's talented
charges to a division title.
The Yankees are in the playoffs again and Joe Torre is the manager
of this successful team and its happy legion of fans. Those of us in
that room on Nov. 2, 1995, underestimated the resolve, skill, and
restraint of this man.
He said he came into the job with his 'eyes wide open,' and we
laughed. He spent the next 11 months opening our eyes to the Joe Torre
we had never seen.
Keywords: BASEBALL. PROFESSIONAL. COACH
Copyright 1996 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
09-29-1996
JOE'S VISION OPENED EYES
By BILL PENNINGTON
Date: 09-29-1996, Sunday
Section: SPORTS
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
Biographical: JOE TORRE
We had a good laugh, most of us did, on Nov. 2, 1995.
Joe Torre was named the new Yankees manager, and he said things
like: 'I'm coming into this with my eyes wide open.'
Oh, how naive. How sad.
The poor man doesn't have a clue. George will chew him up, gnaw on
him until there's nothing left. At the luncheon announcing Joe Torre's
hiring, one question circulated the room: How long do you give him?
No one gave Joe Torre a chance past July. As it happened, George
Steinbrenner did not even wait that long, surreptitiously trying to
convince Buck Showalter to return to the Yankees in a top secret meeting
just days after Torre was introduced as the new manager.
How sad. Poor Joe.
Joe Torre, cigar in mouth, can laugh at all of us now. It is we who
misread this man, who underestimated his ability to adapt, to endure. It
has been 11 months in the Yankees crucible. They have been some of the
longest days of his life, and they have been some of the best.
Steinbrenner may yet fire him in two weeks, two months, or two
years, but the 1996 Yankees season is one tribute to Joe Torre's
unwavering poise. He is a symbol of this long season, the placid, serene
force moving across the days and weeks. He is the duck cruising across
the pond -- propelled, it seems, without effort, all the while churning
with energy beneath the surface.
Because if you think Torre has not longed for this success, you are
wrong. A couple of weeks ago, talking about how he had never played or
managed in the World Series despite 37 years in Major League Baseball,
56-year-old Joe Torre said he would keep coming back to the game 'until
I get it right.'
And this past week, on the day after the Yankees had clinched the
American League East, Torre allowed that he woke up a different man.
'It was the first day all year that I got out of bed without a
concern, without a question on my mind, without thinking that there were
decisions to make, things to settle or figure out,' he said. 'It was an
unbelievable relief.'
So you know he has felt the pressures even if he has masked them in
cigar smoke. In a year when he has had to endure the death of one
brother and the ongoing health problems of another, Torre has also
played shepherd to a diverse roster of young, old, multi-experienced,
and multilingual players -- with all the baseball world, and one
omnipresent owner, watching.
He has had players handed to him he did not seek and lost players
he never wanted to do without. He has observed the media circus from the
center ring, showing the ability to be pleasant and honest without
causing a stir. Best of all, he can, and does, sit in a roomful of
reporters completely silent when silence is the best option.
'He feels things a lot more than he shows,' Yankees third base
coach Willie Randolph said last week. 'He's very emotional. When you sit
next to him on the bench, he jumps and flinches, but then he catches
himself and holds it in.
'I've played for or been around a lot of managers, from Billy
[Martin] and Lou [Piniella] to Dick Howser and Tommy Lasorda to Tony La
Russa, and Joe is remarkable for how steady he can be. I admire him for
how he could keep his personality so stable throughout the whole
season.'
And since he is so undemonstrative in public, there are many things
about him that are little known. And herewith, a short sampler of the
unseen Joe Torre:
Joe Torre, the sentimentalist:
When the Yankees were one inning from clinching their division
title, Torre carefully selected the pitcher he wanted on the mound for
the final out.
'It was very important that it be someone who has gone through the
whole struggle, since spring training,' Torre said. 'I wanted someone
who's been with us the whole way.' He found reliever Jeff Nelson, a
pitcher who bedeviled Torre with his inconsistency through the summer,
but someone Torre continues to embrace as integral to the fold.
Joe Torre, the players' manager:
'It's not enough to look at a guy's stats and say he's not doing
his job,' said Torre. 'I hit .360 in the majors one season and .240 in
another season. And I know I was trying just as hard both times.'
Joe Torre, the humorist:
Asked if he expected to testify at the late October hearing
concerning the validity of the Graeme Lloyd trade, Torre answered: 'I'm
glad you reminded me of that. I'll have my boarding pass to somewhere by
then.'
Joe Torre, the loyal friend:
Asked if he would be upset if embattled general manager Bob Watson
was fired, as most expect, Torre said: 'Bob brought me here. We're a
team. You'd have a tough time telling me he didn't do a good job.'
And finally, Joe Torre, the compassionate:
Reading the congratulatory fax sent to him by Don Mattingly, Torre
said: 'You know it has to be tugging at him to have only gotten a taste
of it last year. I wish he were here.'
It is just about 11 months since Torre was handed the Yankees'
helm, and given the state of the team then, it is just about a miracle
that he is still here, still in the job. You can say that the Yankees
had loads of talent, but it is never the pieces alone that make a unit
powerful. It is how they are used. When the pieces are people -- or to
increase the challenge, multimillionaires pampered since high school --
managing a baseball team is indeed a craft not to be underestimated.
And consider that Torre is the 13th man across 23 seasons to manage
Steinbrenner's Yankees. He is just the fourth to lead George's talented
charges to a division title.
The Yankees are in the playoffs again and Joe Torre is the manager
of this successful team and its happy legion of fans. Those of us in
that room on Nov. 2, 1995, underestimated the resolve, skill, and
restraint of this man.
He said he came into the job with his 'eyes wide open,' and we
laughed. He spent the next 11 months opening our eyes to the Joe Torre
we had never seen.
Keywords: BASEBALL. PROFESSIONAL. COACH
Copyright 1996 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
