Barry's Blog

Joe Torre looked up from the infield recently in Dodger Stadium, listening to the jubilation of the screaming fans, and closed his eyes to stop the tears. This was the joy that had been trapped deep in his soul in recent years, managing the Yankees, and he wondered if he could ever experience it again. "Managing the last two years in New York wasn't fun," Torre told USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale, "I could feel the effects it had on me and my family. I was relieved to get away. When you're at a place for 12 years, you wonder if it can be fun again. Now I don't have to wonder anymore."

As the Dodgers open the NLDS today when they play Chicago, its almost as though his time as the Yankee skipper is a faint memory. Torre spent 12 years as manager of the Yankees, leading them to four World Series titles and 12 consecutive playoff berths. The Yankees invited him back for another season, but only if he accepted a $2.5 million pay cut. He had to make it back to the World Series again to retain the same $7.5 million salary. He chose to leave.

Torre offers in the interview, "There were certain people there that felt that if they motivated me with money, it would make me manage better," with a hint of resentment in his voice and face. "I didn't understand that concept. That was an insult. In some circles, it was taken that $5 million isn't enough. That wasn't the case."

Yet he walked away, managing in a different league, with different players, and about as far from New York as he could get. He is back in the playoffs, with the Dodgers winning the NL West title, yet he feels no sense of glee that the Yankees didn't make it, who for the first time since 1993 did not make the playoffs under new manager Joe Girardi. Torre observes, "There is a special pride for what we've done, but not because we got in and the Yankees didn't. It's not, 'I told you so.' If I said that, I'd be saying I'm happy (Derek) Jeter is not going to the playoffs or I'm happy that Girardi is not going. That's not me."

Ironically, Torre's name was not even mentioned in the recent celebration of the last game at Yankee Stadium. He watched most of the ceremony, but turned it off during dinner. "To not acknowledge Joe was wrong," offers Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly, the former Yankees All-Star first baseman who was on Torre's staff the last four years in New York. "I don't care if you say it's an oversight or not. He was a pretty big part of the history of that franchise, and the fans know."

In LA, Torre inherited a team that was deeply troubled by rival factions, particularly between older players who were seeking the respect of the younger players, and the younger players who wanted more playing time. It was bad enough to send Grady Little into retirement after only two seasons as the Dodger manager. "I don't think people realize what a great job he did with this team," veteran reserve Mark Sweeney observes. "He's the greatest manager I've ever played for...He just knows what to do, what to say, at the right time."

The office is rather small. There are no personal pictures on the wall. No TV or radio. This used to be the office where half of the Dodger's coaches would reside, with the other half around the corner. The spacious manager's office, where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and other Hollywood stars would visit Tom Lasorda, for the last 37 years, is now occupied by the Dodgers coaching staff. "I didn't need an office that big," Torre offers. "I wanted my coaches to be together. So I came here." And as Nightengale observes, "Look closely through the blue paint on the door, and you can see the lettering, Alston. If this office was good enough for Walter Alston, who managed here for 23 years, Torre figures, it's good enough for him."