Saturday, October 20, 2007
October 8, 2007: Torre can't watch as the Yankees are eliminated by the Indians in what turns out to be his last game as manager.
RYE BROOK, N.Y. -- The conversation between Joe Torre and Yogi Berra occurred in midsummer 2007, sprinkled mostly with baseball-related small talk. Suddenly the Yankee manager asked the Yankee legend a telling question.
"How long were you gone?" Torre wanted to know.
"Fourteen years," Berra said. Fourteen long summers, starting in 1985, without speaking to George Steinbrenner or even setting foot in Yankee Stadium. It was the greatest cold war in franchise history, waged by Yogi after The Boss gracelessly fired him 16 games into the season. Berra not only won, he forced Steinbrenner to ask for his forgiveness, a lesson that Torre filed away for future reference.
"Fourteen years," Torre said, shaking his head. "Just wait, I'll beat that."
It was supposed to be a joke – the Yankees were playing .700 ball and Torre was beyond the clutches of the front office's second-guessers. But all that changed this week, when the Yankees shoved Torre out the door. A new manager will soon be hired, and the Yankees will trumpet the dawn of a new era, full of phony praise for a man who's never sat in Torre's seat. But the new age comes at a steep price: Torre is about to start his own freeze-out of the Steinbrenner family.
He said as much in Friday's news conference at the Hilton Rye Town, a 70-minute exercise in understated grace and restraint. Torre never lost his temper, but he nevertheless got his message across, saying the one-year offer was an "insult" and that he had "no choice" but to walk away from the room full of businessmen who have no idea how the baseball world really works.
Later, on WFAN-AM, Torre all but accused the Yankee hierarchy of being liars, saying "it would've been more honest" had he been fired outright without the charade of a new contract.
That sets the stage for Torre's revenge. When someone asked how he envisions his future role – as ambassador to the new Stadium, perhaps, or the star of a future Old-Timers' Day event – Torre's expression went dead-cold. He said, "I'm not ready to comment on that." It was the equivalent of Joe Cool telling George, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner: This isn't over. Not by a long shot.
Torre knows he can hurt the Yankees by pulling a Yogi, refusing to show up at the ballpark for however long it takes the club to realize its mistake. That means no Old-Timers' Day, no first-pitch ceremonies, no Joe Torre Day, at least not for a while, anyway. The Bombers prattled on and on about Torre's integrity, even on his way out, but they're about to find out how badly they mishandled this coup. All the Yankees had to do was show Torre a little respect. Cut his pay, if they really had to, but they should've given him a second year's guarantee and another 10-year personal services contract after his retirement, allowing Torre to act as the franchise's greeter, spokesman and guru.
That way, Torre could've been around to help Don Mattingly in his first year on the job. He could've spent a few innings a week in the YES booth. He could've simply hung around the ballpark, sharing his immense good karma. Instead, Torre will box out the Yankees the way Yogi did. He'll prove he can hold a grudge and not let the family up for air. Not after the way they treated him in Tampa on Thursday afternoon.
To a packed news conference, Torre recounted just how icily he was received by the corporation. He was told of the stripped-down offer by Hal Steinbrenner, at which point Torre reminded the brain trust that he'd taken the Bombers to the postseason for 12 years -- a feat unmatched by any other manager in the big leagues. He stressed that the postseason is a merciless crapshoot, and to cement that point, he reminded them that of the eight qualifiers in the 2006 postseason, only one team, the Yankees, made it back in 2007.
What was ownership's response?
Silence.
Oh, there was some throat-clearing excuse about wanting to move in a new direction, and that an incentive-based contract was their way of motivating Torre. He knew, right there, he was finished with the Yankees. There would be no changing the Steinbrenners' position. No creative negotiating, no budging. It was take it or leave it for a man who'd given the Yankees a human side for more than a decade. Take it or leave it. Torre got up and walked away.
So now he goes home to a new life – although Torre isn't sure where that path will take him. For the short term, it means quiet dinners with his wife Ali, nights at home with his daughter Andrea, the annual trip to Hawaii without having to rush back to spring training. Torre's world will be filled with peace, at least until the phone rings again. Somewhere in the baseball universe, there's another job waiting for him, whether it's managing again or in the broadcast booth.
One way or another, the world will see plenty of Torre's next act. But not the Steinbrenners. It'll be a while before they see Torre's face again. Don't bet against Joe Cool in this coming standoff. Nice guy on the outside, he's tougher than the Yankees ever knew.
* * *
The former manager has his say
On walking away:
"If somebody wanted me to manage here, I would be managing here."
On contract incentives:
"I had been there 12 years and I didn't think motivation was needed."
On the future:
"I'm free to listen right now. I don't expect other ballclubs to pay me what the Yankees paid me."
On returning to the Stadium:
"I'm really not prepared to comment on that."
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