Anyone expecting Joe Torre to root against his former team in the World Series after his bitter divorce from the Yankees was sorely disappointed. Torre may not have the best feelings for his former bosses, but his loyalty to his former players is without question.
Although I'm sure he would have loved to lead his Dodgers to the World Series against the Yanks, he seemed happy that he didn't have to figure out how to get his former shortstop Derek Jeter out or avoid letting his brilliant former closer Mariano Rivera in the game. It doesn't seem like it would have been much easier for Jeter either, who said it finally sunk in that Torre isn't his manager anymore.
At his Safe at Home event last night, Torre seemed genuinely happy for Joe Girardi, his catcher during the late 1990s title runs and his former bench coach. Torre must know better than anyone how difficult it would have been for someone to replace him and he seemed pleased that Girardi was able to step out of his shadow so quickly.
Torre even seemed happy for Alex Rodriguez, who the manager really threw under a bus in his book "The Yankee Years" with Tom Verducci. In the book, Torre talked about ARod monopolizing all the attention and focusing on individual stats versus the team dynamic. But the manager yesterday acknowledged that things changed this year for ARod, who played a major role in the Yanks getting back to and winning the World Series.
At his Safe at Home event last night, Torre seemed genuinely happy for Joe Girardi, his catcher during the late 1990s title runs and his former bench coach. Torre must know better than anyone how difficult it would have been for someone to replace him and he seemed pleased that Girardi was able to step out of his shadow so quickly.
Torre even seemed happy for Alex Rodriguez, who the manager really threw under a bus in his book "The Yankee Years" with Tom Verducci. In the book, Torre talked about ARod monopolizing all the attention and focusing on individual stats versus the team dynamic. But the manager yesterday acknowledged that things changed this year for ARod, who played a major role in the Yanks getting back to and winning the World Series.
Thanks to Googie Man at en.Wikipedia for the photo.
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