Torre delivers farewell to the troops, fans
I don't know about the Bronx burning, but someone is smoldering up there. The only guy whose opinion counts, principal owner George Steinbrenner.
The early departure of the Yankees from the playoffs after losing, 6-4, to Cleveland at Yankee Stadium last night also means -- if George is true to his word -- that manager Joe Torre is finished.
Torre is a Hall of Famer in-waiting. In 12 years with the Yankees, he has won four World Series, six American League pennants and 10 division titles. Under him, the Yankees have never had a losing season and they have averaged nearly 98 wins a season. But there have been just two World Series appearances in the last seven years and no world championships, which is the only trophy on Steinbrenner's mantle that counts. Any other loving cup is a spittoon.
Torre approached this series with the Indians knowing it could be his final one as Yankees manager, even before Steinbrenner's pre-Game 3 ultimatum of win or else. When Torre took the ball from ace starter Chien-Ming Wang, who let down the Yanks twice in this series, the manager consoled the pitcher, telling him not to allow playoff events diminish his 19-win regular season. "This ballclub, they have a great future," Torre said of his team.
And to the Yankee Stadium crowd who cheered the New York skipper, he left this sincere farewell, "These fans are very special. You can feel their heartbeat."
Photo credit: Jim Rogash/AP
Comments
Bill,
Torre has class and deserves to be treated with class. Unfortunately, Mr. Steinbrenner wouldn't know class if it showed up at his front door. They Yanks will miss him dearly.
Anyway, who do you think is in a worse mood, Steinbrenner or the TV execs looking at the possible CLV vs COL/ARZ match-up????
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I was just thinking that ... I hate to dis the remaining teams because they earned it ... but can you imagine what the ratings would have been for Chicago-NY or Chicago-Boston or even Philly-NY/Boston. Holy Moley, Arizona-Cleveland -- no matter how much deserved, is a ratings nightmare.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: JLS | October 9, 2007 9:18 AM
I would trade places with the Yankees in a New York mintue. I would much rather have the problem of 12 straight years of playoffs, but not getting out of the ALDS or the ALCS. Than that mess we have here of trying to finish ahead of Tampa Bay.
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Capt.,
You have lots of company from Laurel to Aberdeen and points beyond.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Captain Jack | October 9, 2007 9:55 AM
It's just too bad this all happened, I actually stayed up to watch the post-game press conference and it seemed he was resigned to his fate.
Considering everything, he handled himself remarkably. He'll have no problem finding work, whether it's on TV or anywhere else.
You feel as is he deserved better than this.
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Anthony,
First of all, let me say that I think Joe was being sincere last night. But even if it was the slightest bit contrived, his extremely classy farewell ... if that's what it turns out to be ... has preserved his place in the hearts of New York fans and ensures that he has an enormous cache of popularity to parlay into whatever he choses to do in the future.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Anthony | October 9, 2007 9:58 AM
It won't be a ratings nightmare. As the Yankees have crumbled, baseball viewership has increased.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071005&content_id=2252102&vkey=ps2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
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Thanks for reading and writing but the article from MLB hardly dissuades me from believing that, say, Cleveland-Arizona is a less attractive TV World Series matchup and will draw fewer viewers than, say, Yankees-Cubs. The best rated game in the article involved the Yankees. It's common sense -- people love 'em or love to hate 'em.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 9, 2007 12:31 PM
As a true baseball fan, I'll watch the post-season no matter who is playing. In fact, it's good to see the lesser known teams like the Rockies/Indians get showcased.
The fact is, however, that many 'fans' only watch baseball in the fall and/or if the 'big boys'.ie Yanks/RedSox/Braves are in.
Therefore, I'm sure the ratings will be low if the RedSox lose to Cleveland.
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Yeah, it just figures to work out like that.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: TerryP | October 9, 2007 2:50 PM