Joe Torre was always the silent motivator, the father figure if you will, to all the Yankee players. Torre was seen as someone who was able to light a fire under his players but enjoyed more of a laid back approach. You rarely saw Joe lose his cool and even more rare was the way Joe treated the Yankees, as a whole, in the media. Unlike Billy Martin, he didn’t like to get on George Steinbrenner, and unlike some of the other managers in baseball today he doesn’t go after his players in the media. Torre was the surprise choice as manager when the Yankees brought him in and he took them to 4 world titles. Joe was the one manager in the game today that I can say is respected by all including some diehard fans of opposing teams.
Torre’s book “The Yankee Years”, is really written by Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci, not by Joe Torre. The story starts and ends in a sort of interview format, a 3rd person’s look at the manager and the team. Verducci writes it brilliantly; it’s not smug or terribly negative but uses the facts as well as interviews with Mike Mussina, Derek Jeter, David Cone and others. Yes there is some controversial stuff in the book such as the relationship between Torre and GM Brian Cashman as well as the poor relationship between Torre and David Wells.
The one chapter that everyone flocks to is the one focused solely on Yankee’s slugger Alex Rodriguez. It talks about how Alex ego was a huge problemwhen he first joined the team. He was trying too hard to be the guy, the one who made all the plays, when he was not at all that guy. Yes Torre does mention the nickname of A-fraud, which when the book first came out looked bad, but when you read it in context it’s not bad at all. The name A-fraud was a nickname given to Alex by Yankees Coach Larry Bowa during practice the day after A-rod had a bad night. Bowa asked Rodriguez if he was “A-rod or A-fraud” today. It was something that became a running joke in the clubhouse, even to Alex.
Through Verducci, Torre talks about many things. He talks about some of his greatest failures as well as his accomplishments. “The Yankee Years” is a great book, especially for fans of the Yankees and fans of Joe Torre. This book is insightful, it’s a fun read but it’s not something that will make you mad reading. Verducci and Torre don’t start many fires and Torre’s views are understandable for anyone who has followed the team. “The Yankee Years” is a fantastic book and a must read; just remember these are not all Torre’s words. This is a book about the life of Joe Torre but its written by another person. “The Yankee Years” Is available now in stores, written by Tom Verducci and Joe Torre.