Tonight, for the first time ever, Joe Torre will share the field with the Yankees, without a Yanks jersey on. Instead, he'll be sporting his Dodgers jersey in his first game managing against the Yankees since he left the team in 2007. And in case you forgot, that departure wasn't necessarily on amicable terms.
On October 18, 2007, Joe Torre turned down a one year deal that would have paid him at least $5 million, and with incentives, could have paid him up to $8 million. It was tough to choose sides on who was right, the Yankees or Torre. On one hand, there was the money. In 2007, the next highest paid manager was Lou Piniella of the Cubs, and he was only paid $3.5 million a year. Torre had brought the Yankees four World Series titles, and had made the playoffs every year during his tenure, but the Yanks hadn't won a title in seven years, and allowing Torre to make up to $8 million could have been seen a gift by some, especially for a team that comes into every season as the favorites to win the World Series.
But for the most part, people believe that Torre was given a raw deal. Even though now, many people are more sympathetic to the Yanks than they are Torre, that's only because of Torre's book, The Yankee Years, which badmouthed the Yanks, but we'll come to that later. Back when the deal was offered though - more than 10 days after the season had ended mind you - many believed that the Yankees had disrespected Torre. Here was a guy who had already been mentioned as one of the best managers of all time, had brought so much success to the organization, and proven himself time and time again, and the Yanks offer him a one year deal, for possibly less money than he had made the previous year? It was a bit of a slap in the face to say the least, especially from a new Yankees management, with George "The Boss" Steinbrenner playing a much smaller role in the decisions of the team, and that's exactly how Joe Torre took it.
With his outstanding resume, it didn't take Torre long to find another job. On November 1, 2007, two weeks after he had turned down the Yankee job, Joe inked a 3 year, $13 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, bringing coaches Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa with him.
The first year without Torre was about as bad as it could get. Torre's replacement, Joe Girardi did something that Torre had never done during his managing career with the Yankees: he missed the playoffs. As if missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993 (not including 1994, with the playoff-less strike) wasn't enough, the storied Yankee Stadium also wouldn't see a playoff game in its last season. Then, to put the icing on the cake, Torre and the Dodgers won the NL West title, and made it to the NLCS, but lost to the Phillies in four games.
Torre had the high ground over the Yankee organization. It seemed as if he had been wrongfully treated by a Yankee management team that had overreacted to the lack of recent World Series rings. But, soon Torre's upper hand vanished, with his book, The Yankee Years, co-written by SI reporter, Tom Verducci. In the book, Torre bashed the Yanks, A-Rod, the front office and revealed secrets from the Yankee clubhouse, disregarding the sanctity that an MLB clubhouse has.
He claimed A-Rod "monopolized the attention." He said that Brian Cashman "betrayed him." He said that some Yankees called A-Rod, "A-Fraud" in the clubhouse at times behind Rodriguez's back, and that every single Yankee hated the regularly injured Carl Pavano. Did these things have at least some truth to them? Yes, but there's no reason for Torre to have came out and bashed his old team. He had everyone's sympathy, and he threw it away in his attempt at petty revenge against the Yanks.
Now, Torre faces his old team on his new turf. The Torre-Yankee drama will add a little spice to a Yankee-Dodger rivalry that goes back to the days when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn. They've met more than any other pair of teams from the American and National league and have seen each other in the World Series a total of 11 times. But after the first game of this series, the drama, which is already pretty mild to begin with, should cool down even more, at least among the fans. There won't be any love lost between Torre and Yankee management, or even Torre and some of the Yankees, but the fans realize both Torre and the Yanks have taken shots at each other, and that there's no reason to hold a grudge against their old star manager. The Yankee-Dodger rivalry also won't be too newsworthy, as it's significance only came from both teams playing in New York. The Dodgers also haven't won a World Series since 1988, and haven't played the Yankees in the Series since 1981, a series which the Dodgers won.
The Yankees play the Dodgers tonight at 10:05 p.m., and there will be no return by Torre his old stomping grounds in the Bronx for at least another year. With word that Torre, the highest paid manager in the league, may not be back for next season, the next time he steps foot in Yankee Stadium, may be for an Yankees Old-Timer's Day ... that is if the Yankee management ever lets him come back.
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