LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Eighteen years ago, Joe Torre considered himself a failure as a manager.
After 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals (with six years as an analyst on the Angels’ broadcast team interspersed), Torre had just one playoff berth and 10 losing seasons to show for his managerial career.
“After I was fired from my second or third job — I’m not sure which one — you lose a little heart,” Torre said. “My wife, Ali, said, ‘How do you want to be remembered?’ I said, ‘As somebody who really never reached, you know, what he was looking for (i.e. the World Series).’ She said, ‘What — are you dead?’ That was pretty inspirational there.”
In 1996, inspiration became opportunity when Torre got another job as the New York Yankees manager. This time, he averaged nearly 100 wins per season in 12 years with the Yankees, winning six pennants and four World Series titles before finishing his career with the Dodgers.
Those achievements were acknowledged Monday when Torre was voted into the Hall of Fame along with fellow managers Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa. The trio – who rank third (LaRussa), fourth (Cox) and fifth (Torre) on baseball’s all-time list in victories – combined for 7,558 wins, 17 pennants and eight World Series titles.
All three were voted in unanimously by the 16-member Expansion Era Veterans Committee. Twelve votes are needed for election. None of the other nine finalists (a group that included Torre’s former boss, George Steinbrenner, Marvin Miller, Billy Martin, Tommy John and Steve Garvey) received more than six votes.
“They say when you’re voted into the Hall of Fame your life changes,” Cox said. “I heard that from the committee members this morning. And it has, I’ve got goose bumps and it’s the greatest honor that we could ever have.”
Torre said the news hit him like a sledgehammer. But his life-changing event was the opportunity to manage the Yankees in 1996 – and winning the World Series in his first season.
“Suddenly, you win a World Series and it’s like being an Academy Award winner,” Torre said. “It’s something they can never take away from you.”
Torre joked that he was fortunate to catch Steinbrenner “on the back nine” when he wasn’t as meddlesome or eager to send managers packing. But Torre’s three years as Dodgers manager might have been his own back nine.
“I probably stayed too long at the dance,” said Torre who left the Yankees after the 2007 season when they wouldn’t give him a two-year contract extension (even though he wanted to manage just one more season). He took the Dodgers to the NLCS in 2008 and 2009 before sinking under the weight of the McCourts’ drama.
“I went to L.A. and managing was fun again — for a couple years.”
Since retiring as a manager, Torre has been supervising baseball’s umpires as Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations.
Contact the writer: bplunkett@ocregister.com
