I can't get over this. Sure, Joe Torre hadn't made it past the first round of the playoffs the past four seasons. However, the man took the Yankees to the World Series SIX times in his 12 years as manager and won it all on four of those trips. He won the AL East, arguably the most competitive division in baseball, 10 times during his tenure, nine of those were consecutive. He led perhaps the greatest team in the history of baseball, the '98 Yankees, to a staggering 114 wins. He is a lock at Cooperstown because of how he managed the Yankees.
I fully concur that the only way the season ought to end is with the Commissioner's Trophy being awarded to the Yankees. However, Torre can only do so much. He can't get out there and pitch underhand to Rodriguez (.267), Jeter (.176) or the rest of the team (.228) in the postseason.
Because of the loss of Torre, the Yankees now stand to lose Mariano Rivera , Jorge Posada., Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu. All of these guys have said that their decision to stay in New York depends on how the front office took care of Torre. Gee, thanks, George, Brian, Hank and Hal. Nice job with that. I sure you hope you know what the hell you're doing.
Congratulations to Brian and the Dodgers. You not only get Torre to manage, but apparently Donny Baseball is also a part of the package.
