Torre departs with dignity
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- October
- 19
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Just returned from the press conference. I’m sure most of you either listened or have heard what Joe Torre had to say by now.
Obviously he handled himself with the class and dignity that marked his tenure with the Yankees.
He also was brutally honest. Torre said he was insulted by the Yankees offering him a performance-based contract for one season after all he had done for the franchise. He said it wouldn’t be fair to the players to have a weakened, lame-duck manager.
“I think players put undo pressure on themselves when they think they have to save the manager’s job,” Torre said. “That’s the type of pressure I’ve tried to take out of the clubhouse.”
Torre also said he felt that Brian Cashman was his only supporter. He also revealed that the “offer” was take it or leave it. He saw through what the Tampa Trio and Randy Levine were up to.
Sadly, Torre refused comment when asked whether he would return for Old Timers’ Day or some sort of ceremony. Obviously he is very angry with the team and their lack of support for him.
His most telling comment: “I like to work with people.”
In other words, the Yankees would be better off without certain people in the front office having personal agendas.
Torre refused to recommend a replacement. But he warned the next manager to have both eyes wide open.
Best to have an eye in the back of your head, too.
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on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 4:51 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
I still have a feeling he will be back as manager in the next month
great summary Pete!
With sharks like Levine it’s best to carry a Knife your self,don’t just relie on your eyes!
It was a take it or leave it deal. After 12 years, they weren’t open to negotiation?
Well, at least Torre is free to run for president now.
Pete, what’s the deal with Randy Levine? What exactly does he do and why has he had it out for Torre (since seemingly day one)?
Pete, Espn is courting you and your blog following.They know your #1 with blogs. Somebody watching You,Pete! They want your followers,too.
I truly wish the Yankees would negotiate further with Joe. I agree it was an insult and I hope it doesn’t ruin the good will of the organization for Mo and Po and Andy Pettitte. We need those guys back.
Randy Levine should go jump in a lake.
Sad day to be a Yankee fan. They disrespected Torre in the worst way possible. It was really a telling news conference and I thought he handled himself very well.
You could obviously tell that he’s heart-broken over the whole thing. He said he won’t even be going back to the Stadium ot gather his things – an assistant will do that.
The Yankees did all of baseball a favor by not doing all they could to bring him back in my opinion.
He matters more than the Front Office thinks and I believe this only hurts the Yankees and the next manager of the team.
What has Randy Levine done in his 7 years as Team President? Has Levine asked himself that question?
Randy Levine better pray that The Yanks make it to the 2nd round or he will be out too.
For what it’s worth, Hillman is taking the Royal’s job according to ESPN… I take everything they say with a grain of salt.
Levine needs to go back to the NYC Office of Labor Relations (his previous employer) and screw over somebody else. It’s unbelievable to me that he didn’t have more supporters among the Yankee brass. He might come October next year.
Like I said in other post, Brian Cashman is our only hope.
He’s the only baseball guy left in a management full of none baseball- business guys. #1 would be Levine who has shown numerous times what a weasel he can be.
Pete, that was a totally biased report. The Yankees didn’t insult Torre. He deserved a pay cut – he did not live up to expectations of his previous contract, which was more than double any other manager.
When players perform poorly, they don’t get the same salary or more (in most cases). I doubt Jason Giambi will make $20 million after next season simply because he is a nice guy. Andy Pettitte wasn’t treated poorly by the Yankees simply because they gave him a one year deal.
the only way to compare what joe did for the yanks the past 12 years is to look at the 12 year period before he got here. one wildcard appearance and first round exit, and lower attendance figures than the mets had. i remember when the yanks were #2 in the city. I remember when the mets tv ratings were twice as high as the yanks. nothing lasts forever, but i really hope the next 12 years aren’t like the 12 prior to joe. but you never know.
Jim, try to pay attention. Torre himself said he was insulted.
It may be a long, long time before the front office retires Joe’s number.
Hillman Is officially taking the KC job. It’s on their website, they will be officially introducing him on Monday.
Pete, how do the fans voice their displeasure about Levine and his loughy record. We are paying for the tickets, we are paying for the merchandise, we are paying for the TV deals. In a democratic society, we would be able to vote this guy out of office for doing such a horrendous job. I realize that they Yankees are a private enterprise, but its clients (the fans) should have some say in all of this. I called Legends Field and got an email (www.legendsfieldtampa.com) and also a fax number (813-281-9001), but I fear that whatever I send will not even be read. We need to start a real grass roots effort to get rid of Levine or it will be the end of the Yankees for a long, long time. He has clearly shown that after the Swindal exit he has been in charge and he has clearly shown that he is cluless, not only about baseball and the baseball business, but about people, about respect, about class and about dignity. He needs to go and somebody needs to tell George Steinbrenner and his sons this. Please tell me there is something that can be done.
The Torre era is over.
Paul Quantril, Scott Procter, Tom Gordon, it’s safe to come back now!
Hilarious, by the way, how Joe is universally praised as “classy,” compared to the mean, dark, evil Yankees front office. How classy was Joe when he shared closed-door conversations with A-Rod to Tom Verducci last year?
That’s fine Pete – but if you are being non-objective, you’d analyze Torre in the same way that you opine on Yankee management.
You take Torre’s word to be reality: “I was insulted by the offer.” Yet, you claim Yankee management’s words were empty. Maybe they simply didn’t feel he was worth a 2 or three year deal. Not everyone is.
I have enjoyed Torre’s 12 years, but perhaps it is time to move on. If Torre deserves all of the credit for Yankee Championships, he certainly deserves some of the blame for their loses. Not all – not pointing fingers, just stating reality.
Torre was compensated better than any other manager by 100% – he was taken care of for his world series victories. This offer still paid him as though he was the best manager in baseball, and he turned it down.
I doubt that a one year deal would have weakened his stature with the players – not in this clubhouse.
Charlie, he’s classy, he’s not perfect and he admits he makes mistakes. Exactly when was it that you made your last mistake, have you asked yourself that. If it was more than a week ago, then accept my appologies.
_how do the fans voice their displeasure about Levine and his loughy record._
lite torches and storm tampa
Everyone has a personal agenda, even reporters.
Pete — I hope what I’m feeling from the media backlash against Levine keeps going. This guy is a clown and has no business influencing the Yankee baseball decisions. Promise us you’re going to give Levine the spotlight he’s been craving. He seems like such a turd, he’ll figure out a way to get himself fired.
Unbelievable that a guy who doesn’t own the Yankees and never played or managed the Yankees is having any kind of say. The only say he should have is nachos or bratwust at the concession stands.
After digesting all of this, I think it’s a disgrace what happened. This is not the way to run a business or a ballclub. The next manager is a lame duck. If, for some reason, the Yankees don’t reach the post season, the next manager will be fired a year from now.
This is how the demise starts. The stability of this franchise has now been rocked and we’re not the team we were 2 days ago when there was still a chance Torre would be back.
This is a dark day and all you guys saying it’s time for a change, check back in with me when we’re not in the post season next year. Can’t wait to see the next manager get eaten alive when the first rough patch hits.
Torre kept this team together and this season did an amazing job.
All of you guys who declared the season over in May on here had to eat it when they came back and got the wild card. You should be ashamed of yourselves for being cavalier about what just happened.
The 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s sucked for the most part. We are walking smack dab right into that.
It starts with firing Torre. Everything is changing and the attitude of being Yankees has taken a hit.
It’s gonna happen right in front of our eyes and 2-3 years from now we’ll all be lamenting how they should have kept Torre.
By that time Mattingly, Girardi and Pinella (who won’t last his contract with the Cubs) will have been fired and we’ll probably be courting Scioscia with a 7 million a year contract.
Jim-
objectivity is a subjective judgment.
just ask the supreme court.
Pete — I hope what I’m feeling from the media backlash against Levine keeps going. This guy is a clown and has no business influencing the Yankee baseball decisions. Promise us you’re going to give Levine the spotlight he’s been craving. He’ll figure out a way to get himself fired with the spotlight on him. He reminds me of the MSG guys.
Unbelievable that a guy who doesn’t own the Yankees and never played or managed the Yankees is having any kind of say. The only say he should have is nachos or brats at the concession stands.
After digesting all of this, I think it’s a disgrace what happened. This is not the way to run a business or a ballclub. The next manager is a lame duck. If, for some reason, the Yankees don’t reach the post season, the next manager will be fired a year from now.
This is how the demise starts. The stability of this franchise has now been rocked and we’re not the team we were 2 days ago when there was still a chance Torre would be back.
This is a dark day and all you guys saying it’s time for a change, check back in with me when we’re not in the post season next year. Can’t wait to see the next manager get eaten alive when the first rough patch hits.
Torre kept this team together and this season did an amazing job.
All of you guys who declared the season over in May on here had to eat it when they came back and got the wild card. You should be ashamed of yourselves for being cavalier about what just happened.
The 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s sucked for the most part. We are walking smack dab right into that.
It starts with firing Torre. Everything is changing and the attitude of being Yankees has taken a hit.
It’s gonna happen right in front of our eyes and 2-3 years from now we’ll all be lamenting how they should have kept Torre.
By that time Mattingly, Girardi and Pinella (who won’t last his contract with the Cubs) will have been fired and we’ll probably be courting Scioscia with a 7 million a year contract.
“Charlie, he’s classy, he’s not perfect and he admits he makes mistakes. Exactly when was it that you made your last mistake, have you asked yourself that. If it was more than a week ago, then accept my appologies.”
So then Torrie’s not perfect? He’s human?! That’s not the news I’m getting in the press. You’d think that Saint Joe is the only person in baseball classy enough to manage this team.
The bottom line is that he’s a normal human being like everyone else, not some saintly classy gift from God, and many other people in baseball are as capable of managing a $200 million payroll team to the playoffs as he did.
Charlie-
my good friend dr victor frankenstein is working with dr. job to reattach the arm that fell off Ramiro Mendoza’s shoulder.
G. Love:
Please name one fact you know about Randy Levine, aside from what you’ve read from Pete.
Until then, stop talking intelligently about people you know nothing about.
Thanks!
Kudos to all the Torre supporters. The truth is that many of those participating in this blog seem to be unbelievably narrow minded. I imagine that you must all do your jobs better than anyone else. Look in the mirror and tell me if you have had the success at your jobs over the years that Torre has had in his.
I am a fan that thought the Yanks should not have lost and needed more fire the last three years, but to tell you the truth, I think Torre did make a big difference and put the team in a position to win even though, in the last few years, the team didn’t really spend wisely and put the best players in his hands. Particularly the pitching decisions were really attrocious in some cases. Payroll isn’t everything, its how that payroll is distributed that really counts, so to be honest, the Yanks didn’t have the best roster in the last four or five years. Maybe the best batting order, but definitely not the best pitching, other teams did each year, whether it was the Red Sox with Pedro and Schilling in 2004, the Tigers last year, the Angels in 2005 and the Indians and Red Sox again this year. Those teams had the best pitchers, not the Yankees. When Torre had the best pitchers, he won most of the time and when he lost the WS in 2001 it was a blooper and in 2003 it was rain and a couple of bad backs (Wells and Clemens). Losing in 2002 to the Angels was bad, but acceptable. People probably can’t get over 2004, but the truth is that we had terrible pitching and got lucky to be up 3-0 and then unlucky to have the millar walk and the bloopers that beat Mariano in game 4.
All this to say that the Yankees under Steinbrenner always spent more than other teams and probably even before Steinbrenner, over the years, they always spent more than other teams and yet they went for more than 10 years twice since 1966 without winning the World Series or even making the playoffs. Again, the payroll is not everything.
In the end, Joe will be missed and many will leave and it is unfortunate that the team seems to have gone back to terrible management under Levine and the two sons because what they ultimately needed to get to the World Series was not a new manager but a staff Ace pitcher.
Charlie, is your name Charlie Levine? You didn’t listen to the conference call with management yesterday, did you. You didn’t listen to the completely pathetic drivel coming out of that man’s mouth. He may be a very good businesman perhaps and very professional at his job, but he orchestrated the anti-Torre and anti-Cashman Tampa mafia that destroyed the team by getting loughy pitchers since Clemens and Pettite left and basically will undermine Cashman and destroy this team going forward. He needs to be fired NOW!
Ditto G.Love – nothing good will come of this!
For Charlie’s sake, below is the cv from his company’s website – very impressive resume and very baseball oriented. He is obviously a hard negotiator and he clearly is very ambitious. I wonder if Giuliani will defend him after this one?
Randy Levine is focused on labor and employment matters. He is also the president of the New York Yankees.
Before joining Akin Gump, Mr. Levine served as the deputy mayor for economic development, planning and administration for the city of New York, where he coordinated the Giuliani administration’s economic development policies. Prior to joining the mayor’s office, he served as the chief labor negotiator for Major League Baseball, and in 1996 negotiated Baseball’s landmark labor agreement that led to the sport’s return to prominence. Before joining Baseball, Mr. Levine served as the commissioner of labor relations for the city of New York, where he negotiated several groundbreaking contracts with New York City municipal workers and successfully mediated disputes within the hotel and commercial real estate industries.
Previously, Mr. Levine served as principal associate deputy attorney general and principal deputy associate attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was the recipient of several Exceptional Service Awards. He received his B.A. in 1977 from the George Washington University and his J.D. in 1980 from the Hofstra University School of Law. He is a member of the New York Bar.
(1) How is Levine responsible for the poor pitchers we have had since Clemens and Pettitte first left?
(2) How is there “dignity” in saying that being offered a salary of 40% more than the next highest paid manager in baseball is insulting?
Joe Torre is a good guy. A good guy is dependable and cares and does everything he can to better situations. I think it would have been better for everyone if they just simply told him it was time to move on. No one would have lost face. No one would have been the bad guy. Instead the suits made an offer that they knew he would not accept. That is the bottom-line. i truly believe they knew he would not accept it. And they were right and Torre is gone. They lost a man of good will yesterday. It was not done cleanly and for that I am a most unhappy Yankee fan. I was born a Yankee fan (lived on 163rd Street). I will die a Yankee fan. But the suits have no place in my stadium – never have and never will.
Don’t you just love ex-government bureaucrats like Levine once they enter the private sector? The only way they get anywhere is by leaving their footprints on someone else’s back as they climb to the top.
And once they get there–and the panic sets in when they first realize that they are really small and petty men “without chests” (as C. S. Lewis once put it)–then they have to create enemies to justify their existence and to feel some sense of self-worth. Ever work for a guy like that? You only make that mistake once!
My sense it was time for Joe to go. But men like Levine have to make these things personal. They see it as the elimination of a rival. This wasn’t event about baseball and team performance (wins and losses). Men like Levine can’t just let a man like Torre go after the loss in the playoffs. No, they need the spectacle of it all, the drama. They think what they say and their role in at all is what really matters–exemplified by his self-importance during the Tampa press conference.
Meanwhile, everyone else thinks he’s a doof! Pete’s right–weasel is an apt description. But Levine will never see it, never get it. Sad.
Cashman had better watch his back. I’ll bet Levine is already worried about one remaining rival back in New York and is even now thinking of how to proffer Cashman’s next contract so that it looks like he (Cashman) is at fault when the axe falls.
That’s how these guys work, and why they are such a cancer to an organization.
The bottom line is that Levine is the one new face in the Yankees since they started failing to meet expectations, so HE IS RESPONSIBLE! Came in in 2000 and things went south from there.
OMFG can we dispense with the middle school drama already ?
Yeah, Joe had SO much to be “angry” about. His 12 years, 4 WS rings, and countless millions are going to be oh so hard to get over.
Give me a break people. This is like watching High School Musical 3 – Troy and Gabriella console Joe Torre. Good LORD
Levine was a guiliani guy who George took on in hopes of getting a new stadium. Somehow, he’s stayed on.
Nah sorry, that press conference was pure cowardice on Torre’s part. He calls the Yanks’ final offer “insulting” to a sea of kissass reporters (I’ll get to that) but doesn’t tell the “Tampa Trio” (George, Hal, and Hank Steibrenner) and Levine that to their faces in their meeting (I doubt he did). Torre knew this offer was coming and final, he just wanted to reject it so he could look like the injured innocent/ saint. That was his childish behavior. If the Yanks acted like children, he followed suit and that makes him worse cuz he’s 67 years old. A real man quits, says he’s not staying on, retires, or takes a year off after being left to twist in the wind for 10 days or better than that, tells them “I want at least 2 years at my current salary or I’m not staying on, that’s it.” Concise and direct. That’s what I would’ve told the Yanks and not even. I’d have told him I quit and they can keep my remaining salary through the end of the contract, ef it. It really isn’t me quitting, everyone would say he had enough. No offer/s, just I’m outta here, I’m not managing the rest of this year or under contract to manage next year anyway so who cares if I quit before the contract officially runs out?
Nice softball questions from the so-called media (all of you are sheep and a disgrace to journalism), here’s my question for Torre:
“Since you wanted more than one year, how could you have expected a contract offer of two or more years after seven years of not winning the World Series including two World Series losses, the biggest chokejob in pro sports history, four first round exits in the past six years including three straight first round exits?”
That would’ve left him speecheless.
How ’bout this one:
“Did you expect at least two years and if so did you honestly think the Yankees would give that you in lieu of the Yankees’ postseason failure the past seven years?” How could he say seven years without a World Series championship -THE GOAL- isn’t a failure?
The media at that “press conference” (more like group ego massage) was/ is an asskissing disgraces to journalism cuz not one of them had a dissenting opinion of Torre’s departure in the form of some very legitimate questions. My above questions above were certainly better than the blatant unprofessional pro-Torre garbage like the fat slob in the front row ran about how “Where does Randy Levine come off…” when Levine is who he is and did what he had to do to get the job, like him or not. Definitely better than “What are you gonna do now Joe?” PBBBTTTT!!!!
My question is why is being a lame duck so bad. Correct me if I am wrong Torre was a lame duck this year and I didnt hear that it effected any of his players playing for Torre this year.
How is it classy and dignified to spend two hours airing your dirty laundry on ESPN?
Way to throw Levine to the dogs folks. Tell me, besides the resume that was just posted, which I am sure most of you had no idea of, what do you know about Levine? that he is team president? That hes not great in front of a mic? that he handled Joe Torre’s contract badly?
Basically, what you know of Levine is what Pete Abe has said about him, which, by the way Pete, I find very unprofessional of you. Your job isn’t to comment on people’s characters or judge them. You’ve had very sparse dealings with him overall, calling someone’s character into question based on that reflects badly on you, I know you are better than that.
Levine has been president since 2000, and yet suddenly people are calling him out? I’m not saying I like the guy, but at least ground your wild claims about Levine in something that holds up.
People are reacting just the same way as they were when Buck was fired (and Torre was ridiculed). The Yanks have never been great at HR, Joe Torre is not the embodiment of “Yankeeness,” this doesn’t mean jack diddly in terms of the future of the Yankees, and for all you know, the Yanks will win the series next year.
Go read RLYW and their post…
Just a question:
How much “dignity” and “loyalty” did Torre have when he failed to stand up for Zimmer, Stottlemyre and Mazzili when they were all fired under his watch.
Torre’s a great guy…but let’s not make him a saint for turning down a $5+million contract to manage a baseball team.
And Pancho, blaming the Yankees failures to win the World Series since 2001 on Levine is asinine. A lot goes into that. Levine is at fault, cashman is at fault, George is at fault, Torre is at fault, the players are at fault. Heck, YOU might be at fault. Please think a little reasonably…I know its fun to jump aboard the panic train, but settle down
So Levine is a Guiliani guy.
Ya know, that reminds me how guiliani flipped out when commissioner Bratton was featured on the “cover”:http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1996/1101960115_400.jpg of Time Magazine, and jealous over the media attention, forced Bratton out.
Furthermore, the Yanks owe Torre nothing. Arthur Richman recommended Torre to Steinbrenner, Steinbrenner hired Torre when NO ONE in the Yankees organization including Gene Michael wanted Torre hired. Nice selective memory from the disgusting sheep N.Y. media who ridiculed the hire with the headline “Clueless Joe”. Steinbrenner made Torre thus he has every right to break him, deal with that fact and try learning history before you run your mouths about how Torre got shafted. Buck Showalter got shafted: he manages the first Yankee team to make the postseason since 1981 (1995 Yanks -it would’ve been a year before if not for the season-killing strik as the Yanks were well on their way to a postseason berth in ‘94), his reward: You’re fired. Not only was he fired, but the Yanks used trickery to fire him: they made him an initial offer but didn’t say it was final, he rejected it, they fired him and played it up like he refused their final offer, a blatant lie and attempt to make it look like they wanted him back and he didn’t want to come back cuz he was greedywhich I found extremely hard to believe after the Yanks got even closer to World Series contention in 1995.
You are not a real Yankee fan if you think Torre deserves at least 2 more years after seven straight years of no World Series championships, just fake fans who seem to be more fans of Joe than the team. Go cry about Torre being gone while I root for the Yanks with whoever is managing them who I unlike you will root for to succeed…just like I rooted for Torre to succeed when he became Yankees manager (he had no part in Steinbrenner’s game with Showalter).
Zack:
I’m not sure “asinine” applies because it is not stupid to think that if an organization won four out of five world series and had great rosters in the years before the President of such organization took over, and all of a sudden it didn’t win anymore and the pitching was loughy but the rest of the top staff didn’t change, maybe somebody’s influence the decisions was hurting things? I really believe that the long-standing portrayal in the press of the “fight” inside the Yankees between the Tampa mafia and Swindal/Cashman/Torre side was true. Last year, it appeared that Swindal/Cashman/Torre had won that battle once and for all, but then Swindal went and screwed up and was ousted, which gave Levine the power to orchestrate this fiasco. Now, truth be told, Cashman has made a lot of mistakes also, but his hits have outdone his misses, particularly this year when everything seemed bleak and he didn’t blink. Well now, he probably is not in power anymore and Levine and the Tampa mafia will take over and ruin the team.
Aaron Small going 10-0, Shawn Chacon going 7-3, and Wang being called up to replace an injured Kevin Brown and winning 7 games saved Torre’s ass in 2005. 19-game winning Cy Young Award runnerup Wang saved his ass in 2006 and 2007. Seattle and Detroit wilting down the stretch also saved his ass this year. His job status has been living on borrowed time since 2004. This year was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Why does this Charlie clown think he is a reliable arbiter of anyone else’s – even everyone else’s – intelligence? Impugning the intelligence of your opponent in a debate is a sign of intellectual insecurity and weakness of character. Charlie may indeed be a genius, but it’s awfully hard to tell from his cheap ad hominem responses.
Just wanted to put this out of control Joe Torre garbage into perspective. About three blocks from his office at Yankee stadium there is an elderly woman who worked for forty years in the garment district at a sewing machine 12 hours a day. She is now on social security and medicare. While Joe is turning down the “insulting� offer of 5 million dollars for one year’s “work�, she has just spent the last of her monthly check on needed medication and is trying to decide which Mighty Dog can she should eat from for dinner tonight. Ain’t that Amercia!
Who knew Randy Levine had groupies??
Is Mighty Dog on sale?
my neighbor’s wiener dog loves kibbles and bits©
Video of Torre’s complete Press Conference:
http://www.ebsports.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=50296
Pete —
Are you sure you’re not projecting your own anger here? It strikes me that there is a fair amount of support for the decision, and if the split is not 50-50, one should keep in mind that that in any affair the “opposed” are most outspoken.
And “personal agenda”? Wha—? Newsflash: Randy Levine is PRESIDENT OF THE YANKEES. And while it may be fair to impugn his baseball knowledge or his politics, or his clumsiness or insensitivity, to presume his motives in this matter beyond a desire to help THE TEAM OF WHICH HE IS PRESIDENT is beneath you.
Seriously, by the reactions of some of you people on this blog you’d think Levine had bedded Joe’s wife and disemboweled his children. At WORST he made an insincere offer he knew wouldn’t be accepted in order to cover his own ass; the alternative would have been “firing” the man and facing the same wrath.
I find it utterly hilarious how many fans around here have forgotten the shenanigans and ethically dubious maneuvers that have defined this club’s management for most of its 35 years. Ummm…Howard Shapiro, anybody? For starters?? But I guess George’s foibles are forgivable because he “just wants to win.” But not Levine! Impossible!
I hope you all enjoy pulling for your new ball club next season, whoever that may be. I for one am pulling for the YANKEES!
Answers for no morre torre and Gayle
“Did you expect at least two years and if so did you honestly think the Yankees would give that you in lieu of the Yankees’ postseason failure the past seven years?� How could he say seven years without a World Series championship THE GOAL isn’t a failure?
For the first 5 years and 6 months up through 9/11 and the bottom of the 9th in Arizona he deserved to close out the old stadium and open the new. As businessmen the Stein & Sons made more money each and every year through ‘07 because he delivered postseason appearances.
Let’s see their performance-based management style’s impact on the players when they fire the next manager for failure the first year they don’t win it all. Don’t lower the standard now.
and gayle –
when they were 21-29 and the media started after lame-duck Joe, Cashman’s statement that “if anyone was to blame it was him” kept the Tampa dogs at bay. Actually Cash should have had the class to resign last week due to his Pavano, Farnsworth,Vallone and Visciano signings but it’s hard to be that brave.
I think that Torre was just still tired of living, working under the ridiculous pressure to win the World Series. I wouldn’t want to deal with that either, what manager does and it works? i mean, come on! I really don’t think the paycut is the reason why he declined, it’s b/c he is saying he didn’t need monetary incentives to win and one year is just not enough, he may as well start somewhere else of ride off into the sunset. I wish him all the best, and we fans will all miss him, esp when we are not in the playoffs next year!
I’m no astrology guy, but this whole Torre episode is very symptomatic of the fact that Mercury is currently in retrograde (which tends to mangle communication, among other things).