http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3859198
Well this is interesting. I would have thought Torre would have more class than to write a book like that, basically throwing Arod under the bus along with the Steinberners and Cashman. Although this could just be the press making something out of nothing as I remember them making a huge deal out of David Wells' book but there wasn't really anything bad written in it besides him being hung over when he pitched a perfect game and him throwing Mussina under the bus.
I'm sure Torre was hurt by being let go but he probably should have been fired a long time ago as his managing, especially in big games after the 2000 WS, was pretty poor.
Oh well, just another distraction for Arod. Should be intereting if anyone comments on it from the Yankees side.
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To me, if Joe Torre was going to write a book, he should have waited until he was no longer working in MLB to do so, that shows a certain disrespect for the game IMO.
Kanye West, charlestonphan and GreenMonster like this. -
Completely agree, especially if he's going to throw people under the bus who are still playing and/or working in the MLB. All it does is add distractions and makes himself look bad, which is surprising because Torre has always been classy.
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In an explosive new book called "The Yankee Years," Torre gets most personal in his attacks against Alex Rodriguez, who he says was called "A-Fraud" by his teammates after he developed a "Single White Female"-like obsession with team captain Derek Jeter and asked for a personal clubhouse assistant to run errands for him.
Got to love that -
Well, considering he took an inexperienced Dodgers squad to the NLCS over faves like the Cubs while the infinitely more talented and expensive Yankees missed out completely, he's got a point. And I do note that Torre was the one who refused the contract offer by the Yankees. Not that I mind of course.charlestonphan likes this.
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good points on both sides fellas... i dont get the whole "tell all book" mentality. and it is kind of surprising that Torre, an older guy that wasn't raised in this era, and should know better, would do it. especially while still in the game.
but at the same time, i entirely understand that the human ego makes one want to defend ones actions. and among some Yankee fans i know, he has already become the scapegoat for the Yankees lack of success recently.
plus there is discussion among fans and some media that he is not a Hall of Fame worthy manager, since he didn't skipper the Yankees to more World Series titles, with the financial resources available and the talent purchased for him to win with. so Torre wants to defend himself, which is a natural response.padre31 likes this. -
No that's completely false logic. The Dodgers making the playoffs while the Yankees missed out are two completely unrelated things. The Dodgers were in a terrible division in an easier league, while the Yankees were in a tougher division in a tougher league. If the Yankees were in the NL West they would have made the playoffs over LA.
Torre is absolutely a Hall of Fame manager. The guy took his club to 6 World Series in 13 years, and won 4 of them. I do feel the guy is a little overrated as a manager overall but he deserves to get into the Hall.unluckyluciano and padre31 like this. -
They may have been two unrelated things but notice. Yanks couldn't make the playoffs with that kind of roster the year Torre left and got beaten out by a young Rays club that had debatable lesser talent in that division. Torre has a bunch of noobs, Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt, and Manny in LA. We're talking 1/10th the firepower of the Yankees. The fact that we were even playoff bound is a miracle because it was really supposed to be a rebuilding year. Yea they were in a bad division, but they swept the Cubbies. I can't say the Yanks would've done that.
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14 teams had a better record than the Dodgers last year, they wouldn't have made it in any other division. They won 2 more games than in 2007 and had the best player in baseball from the trade deadline on.H.Moody likes this.
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I agree completely... -
They beat, no, swept, the team with the 2nd highest season record in the playoffs that season without their ace Brad Penny and the best player in baseball from the trade deadline on improved markedly when acquired.
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Torre has taken some lesser teams to the playoffs like the 1982 Braves and 08's Dodgers, to me the best manager in the last 30 years comes down to Joe Torre or Jim Leyland.
That is why this book is such an odd thing to write. -
But the Yankees had the highest payroll, how many other teams have a payroll exceeding 200 mil a season? Forget about the division and what not, doesn't it say something when Torre leads an inexperienced team past the team with the 2nd highest season record?Coral Reefer likes this.
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Yeah and the yankees faced a lot of injuries...they lost their best pitch for the season, lost a young philip hughes, Matsui was hurt most of the season, Posada was hurt. I am not saying Torre is a bad manager but i think the yankees needed a change. Just like the Broncos firing Shanahan, they needed a change. Torre was great for us but after 2001 it went all down hill. IMO the Yankees were elite from 1996-2001 with Torre.
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You're making it out like the Dodgers are some small market team. LA spent close to 120 million in 2008, which was the highest out of any team in the NL West by almost 50 million. So you can't bring up the Yankees not making the playoffs with that payroll and then say how the Dodgers did without bringing up the payroll factor. Also the Dodgers had the 2nd highest payroll in the NL (only the Mets had a higher one).
Again you can't really compare the Dodgers to the Yankees or even the 2007 Yankees to the 2008 Yankees. Different teams and situations and circumstances. Who's to say that the 2008 Yankees wouldn't have beaten the Cubs or even the Phillies? It's too small of a sample size. -
For the past 30 years, no question Torre has been the most successful. As for as best manager I'm not sure (and I do believe there's a difference in best manager and most successful). I personally don't think Torre is a very good game manager, I think he's great in the clubhouse and handling the media.
As for the best manager I think Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, Mike Scosia and to a much lesser extent Terry Francona have to be in the discussion as well. -
whys he gotta rip arod :(
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I don't see it as him ripping Arod, just saying what the players called him.
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What happened to classy Joe?
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I agree bro.
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Just heard more details on the book via WFAN in NY:
-Torre talks about how some players had trouble playing in NY due to the night life.
-Talks about how it was difficult to manage Arod and Jason Giambi (I'm just guessing he means with the steroid stuff with Giambi because I've heard from numerous people around baseball that Giambi is a good guy).
-Talks about how great it was to manage Jeter and Rivera
-Talks about how an unnamed pitcher refused to pitch in a big game for him (this could be interesting to see if he names him or not).
Also a Yankee beat reporter talked about how a NY reporter followed Arod around for a year in 2007 to write a book about him so the beat reporter wondered when that book was coming out and if Arod will bad mouth Torre and his teammates or not. -
Insiders close to Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez blasted Joe Torre yesterday, saying a new book by the former Bomber manager that characterizes A-Rod as an emotionally needy prima donna is "unequivocally not true" and "one final act of desperation."
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9134992/Report:-A-Rod-insiders-blast-Torre's-tell-all?FSO2&ATT=MA
News flash to A-Rod, the rest of the world thinks your a emotionally needy prima donna!njfinfan likes this. -
It's funny because one of my good friends who is a Red Sox fan has always called him A-Fraud.
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I will wait for the official book and context.........if its true that much is a 3rd person account, and not specifically stated by Torre then I will give him a pass.
This is supposidly a book that was 12 years plus worth of Baseball stories, annidotes, etc by Verducci....all written in 3rd person. If so, that lessens it somewhat regardless of them using Torre's name and picture on the cover.
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Jon Heyman was just on WFAN and said that Torre shouldn't have done this book, as it goes against Torre's old school stance on keeping things inside the clubhouse and it makes Torre look bad. He said Arod is hammered in the book by a lot of teammates. And the Torre really kills Cashman in it. Again Heyman doesn't understand why Torre would agree to do a book like it.
This book is getting a lot of hype and I might have to pick it up.BigDogsHunt likes this. -
Torre said A-Rod has a "Single White Female" obsession with Derek Jeter.
A-Rod should definitely show up to camp this winter with one of those t-shirts where you can take a picture and screen print it on of just Jeter's face.
That would be hilarious. -
...or a emotionally needy post-madonna.....as the case may be....
I'm hoping Alex will want out of NY(after this season)and my Halos can swing a some kind of deal for him.......emotional baggage and all.... -
Maybe Verducci got it wrong? He's obsessed over a single white female all right. :shifty:
I'm beginning to think it indeed was more Verducci than Torre in the book. If anything, Torre's just a big splashy name to put as author the way disrespected undergraduates have to put their professors names on academic papers.BigDogsHunt likes this. -
Joe torre's in L.A., everyone becomes an actor when they move to L.A.. So now he is playing the part of the Jilted lover who seeks revenge. It was widely covered that in 2006 Joe Torre, showed up at a BBQ at A-rod's house, even though he didnt want to go and ended up being the last to leave. Having what he referred to as a true "father and son" type moment. I dont doubt for one second that Arod is a tough bird to handle and that he is a bratty prima donna. But, for clueless Joe, this is very very unclassy. For someone who preached about always taking the high road, this book sure is a back handed slap in the face.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...F?slug=ap-yankees-torrebook&prov=ap&type=lgns
In a conference call today Brian Cashman had quite a few things to say Re: J.T.'s book.
If you like to listen to the conference call its here.
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ -
Normally i never listen to the Michael Kay show on espn 1050 here in NY but today I did because I knew thos would be a topic:
According to Kay:
It was written by Verducci based on his interviews, information obtained from Joe over the years but in no way did Joe collaborate with verducci for the book. Joe is actually in Hawaii right now vacationing and got wind of it from his agent.
Also according to Kay the nostalgia surrounding Joe over the years is BS:
- He re-told the story about how Torre ripped him a new one right after Torre took over for Buck. How Torre called him out for asking in a post game interview why he took Paul O Neill out of a game for a late inning defensive replacement when o neill was one of the best defensive OF's in the league. How Torre called him a Buck guy and never gave him any kind of scoop but he did for John Sterling.
- felt Joe wants too much credit for building the Yankee brand when its really the Steinbrenner's dollars who did. -
Verducci says Torre read and reread the final draft and okayed it before it went to print.
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I suggest everyone to read Buster Olneys article on the subject on espn.com. I think its very well written and makes Torre look even worse especially at the part when Torre was mad at Wells and his book.
Bottom line is Torre signed off on the book and got big money for it so even if its most Verrtucci, Torre is still listed as co writer.Finfangirl likes this.