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New league, new location, but same old Joe Torre

Shaun Powell

September 25, 2008

LOS ANGELES

For the 13th straight year, it appears Joe Torre still remembers the directions to the playoffs, although this time he will make a small detour and take the high road.

He will not dance on the Yankees' grave, or express how he feels about being erased from Yankee Stadium history, or counter the latest sucker punch thrown by a Steinbrenner. He will smile and refuse to play along or take the delicious bait.

Did he hear what Hank Steinbrenner wrote in a magazine blog how Torre and the Dodgers are benefiting from playing in a lousy division?

"Yes," Torre said.

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Does he care to respond?

Long pause.

Longer pause.

"No."

Well, then, what about making the playoffs in your first year with the Dodgers, who can clinch the NL West division tonight, while the Yankees, who never had a regular-season hiccup while you managed them, sit this one out?

"Well, reaching the playoffs would be very satisfying," Torre said. "But not because of them. Then I'd be saying I'm happy Jeter's not in it, that Girardi's not in it."

And finally, Joe, about never hearing your name mentioned during the ceremony at the closing of Yankee Stadium. It was like you never existed.

Pause. "I didn't know what they had planned," he said. "I didn't have a reaction to it."

Actually, he does have a reaction to it, to all of it. He wouldn't be human if he didn't. His body language and a few too many pauses spoke for him. Part of him is angry and hurt that the only credit the Yankees gave him was spelled out in his paycheck. They're not paying him anymore and the jabs keep coming anyway.

But at least this time, Torre has salvation with a new team and atmosphere totally different from the one he left. "I'm here and I've got more important things to concern myself with," he said.

Yes, he does, and the irony is too delicious. He's on the verge of reaching the playoffs and the Yanks are done. He gets no satisfaction from Derek Jeter missing the playoffs for the first time or seeing Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, in addition to Joe Girardi, packing early for the offseason. Also, you can't have fun at the Yankees' expense without unintentionally making light of a team put together by general manager Brian Cashman, who remains a close friend.

There is, however, a sense of validation for Torre that, if you placed his hand on a Bible, he'd love to see rubbed in the faces of those in the organization who thought his success was tied to George Steinbrenner's wallet.

The Dodgers are just a few cuts above .500, true, and their season was lost until slugger Manny Ramirez arrived. Fair enough. But they are heading to the postseason with a fraction of the Yankees' payroll and with a pitching staff that doesn't scare a lot of teams. Essentially, Torre proved to some folks, and maybe even to himself, that he can make a difference. Maybe this wouldn't have been possible unless he left the Yankees and all their resources.

The problem is Torre became a slave to those resources and the paycheck and all the terrific perks that went with managing the Yankees. He had multiple chances to leave the Bronx but never did, and even to the very end, part of him wanted to stay. "I'm personally relieved to get away from that," he says now. "It was something that was probably mutual."

Sometimes managers stay in one place too long, and they never really know when or how to leave. That's what happened to Torre, and now that he's gone, there should be no hard feelings on either side. Torre got what he wanted out of the relationship. So did the Yankees.

That's why the anti-Torre folks in the organization, and Hank Steinbrenner if he counts himself as one, should get over it. If anything, the Yankees should be planning a day of honor for Torre the way they would Yogi or Reggie, although that doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon, judging by how Torre was curiously forgotten on the final game at Yankee Stadium.

"Given what he's meant to that organization, to see that happen was really disappointing to him," said Larry Bowa, the Dodgers' third-base coach who followed Torre to Los Angeles. "The Yankees are a class act, but that wasn't the right way to do things. Joe did a lot."

Joe Torre is still doing plenty. His team will be working next week. Unlike others.

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