Joe Torre Throws Away His “Yankee Years” With Book

Growing up a Yankees fan, the only years I can really recollect are the years that Joe Torre was managing—or as he calls it, “The Yankee Years,” in his new book written by himself and Tom Verducci. I look back at the late 90’s dynasty team and see a manager who had the composure to handle team adversity, the dynamic New York media, and the wrath of The Boss, George Steinbrenner.

But after reading “The Yankee Years” I can’t help but look at Joe Torre as a man who told an organization he worked for to stick it up their @$$ and a man who tattle-taled like a schoolboy at recess about the players he managed.

Let’s say you worked in an office, and your superior was well-respected, did his job to his best abilities and was a likeable guy. Now let’s say he left the position and moved on to a different office job, but in the process, talked smack about what you did that one day at work four years ago, and the fight you and your co-worker had at the Christmas party. And, oh yea, the whole country knew about it.

Well that’s exactly what Torre did.

And as a reader, I couldn’t be more grateful to read about the insider stories about what went on in the clubhouse or front office. “The Yankee Years” goes into great detail on, of course, A-Rod’s obsession with personal perfection, more proof that Clemens is guilty of steroid use, and the trials and tribulations of the Yankees failures in the playoffs since Luis Gonzalez’s bloop hit in 2001.

But while I enjoyed reading "The Yankee Years," I can’t say writing his book was the right thing to do. For a man who was hoisted in the air after his fourth World Series win, who took the Yankees to the playoffs each of the 12 years he managed the team, who won time and time again with no-names with the right character and superstars with the wrong ones, it's truly sad that this book is his final Yankee chapter.

What’s sad about this whole mess, besides the way Torre abruptly left the Yankees after all those great years, is that he’s not going to be welcome back to the Yankee family. Torre didn’t attend the finale game at Yankee Stadium like other Yankee greats, and unless he buys a ticket or the Dodgers play in Interleague play, he’s probably not going to step foot in the new one.

What’s sad is that a manager who was so revered all those years, will be remembered for spilling all the dirt at the expense of his Yankees legacy, just to be on the New York Times Bestsellers list.