Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul "Joe" Torreis an American professional baseball executive, serving in the capacity of Major League Baseball'schief baseball officer since 2011. A former player, manager and television color commentator, Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, whom...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth18 July 1940
CountryUnited States of America
At some point soon, I'll sit down with Bernie and we'll go over everything. I have a great relationship with him, and always have. I've probably talked to him more than any other player here in my tenure. If the first game of the season were today, I'd say he'd be the starting DH. But I also want to give him a lot of time in the corners (left and right field), with the emphasis more on him playing right than left, spelling Sheffield.
And it's been work for him. I think I discovered over the years how hard it is to do what he does because he doesn't have the instincts a lot of these players have.
He's real people, the way he plays the game. I think it's important to do whatever we can just to let a player know what's going on.
The one thing I can take credit for is for not trying to be someone else. I've always tried to be a manager who allowed his players to play. The game is theirs. What I've done for 10 years is try to stay out of their way.
It's pressure, sure. But it's a good pressure, because George Steinbrenner certainly puts his money where his mouth is. He certainly spends money to put players in the clubhouse.
Every time the Yankees go to spring training, you have to be thinking World Series. I don't think that's a disrespect to any other team. It's just understanding the pressure that goes with playing here.
The Yankees want to get Brian done, ... I'd be disappointed if Brian left.
If it rains, that's one thing. Now if it doesn't stop -- then we've got an issue.
I didn't say we had to stop there,
My only concern was that he'd alienate himself from the rest of the club but I didn't see that happen.
They are a thunder. They can put winning streaks together before you blink your eye.
I don't really know the nature of it. The fact that he hit, that's a good sign for us. Hopefully it's just something that's connected with Spring Training.
I'm very comfortable working with Brian and I certainly hope that they find a way to get it done.
I'd like to say we're experienced enough that that's not going to happen. But the whole thing about hitting and pitching is the feel you get and the psychological edge you think you have. Unless you've had success, it's hard to latch onto that.