Let me start out this posting by saying that I'm a real fan of Joe Torre, but not just because of his work with the NY Yankees.
In fact I guess that I should say I'm a fan in SPITE of his work with the Yankees since, currently being a luke warm Atlanta Braves fan, it was tough watching the Braves lose not one but two World Series to Mr. Torre's team.
Joe Torre won my favor way back in 1982 when, having suffered through the lows and lowers of watching the Braves since Ted Turner launched his "Superstation" on cable TV in the early/mid 1970's and broadcast every single game each season, he moved to Atlanta.
You see, the problem with being a Braves fan in those "Pre-Torre" days was that they lost more games than they won. They lost A LOT of games--a 199 versus 388 game record in the 1977-1979 seasons.
Don't believe me...look it up here.
When I moved from my childhood home in south Alabama to college in Atlanta in 1977, I started attending Braves games in person instead of just watching them on TV. In spite of their record, making the 15 minute drive down to the old Atlanta stadium from North Avenue was at least a monthly if not weekly event in those days.
Back then you could get in on "day of the game" outfield seating from something like 2 bucks and a beer cost you another $2 and you had yourself an evening with parking for about $7.
We used make an event out of watching the games in my dorm's common room or the Fiji fraternity house until the sixth or seventh inning, then if the Braves were winning we'd jump into my Camaro and run down to the stadium and park in the preferred parking area for free, then run inside for free also (after the seventh inning stretch they opened the gates and stopped charging admission) and grab some drinks and cheer the conclusion.
Sometimes the Braves would still lose, but it was the adventure, not the final score, that counted most.
Now back to Joe Torre's three year stint as Braves manager...
After beginning his major league playing career with the the Milwaukee Braves in 1960, in 1982 Joe came to Atlanta from managing the NY Mets to reunite with the Braves as manager, in the process inheriting a team that was moving forward but had not achieved their true potential.
I vividly remember a guy named Bob Horner was playing first and sometimes third base that season, and the Braves, under Torre's new supervision, opened with their best start ever...a 13 and 0 win loss record.
The city of Atlanta was ecstatic.
The Braves went on to become the NLCS champions that season, and I camped out with my roommate Andy and a few friends at the old stadium to buy a set of World Series tickets for something like $13 per game for four games. (Oh for the days before
Unfortunately, Atlanta lost their second ever NLCS appearance that year in an 0-3 sweep to the St. Louis Cardinals, and I never got to use my World Series Tickets.
A humorous highlight of that season was when an Atlanta pitcher named Pasquel "Perimeter" Perez missed a start at home during the regular season when he got lost on I-285, the perimeter interstate, and drove two or three 60 mile long circles around the town while his fellow players wondered where he was (Perez also pitched the final losing game in the NLCS series that season.)
So any way, Torre has most definitely gone on to bigger and better things, and with his departure from the Braves after the 2005 season due to Ted Turner's quirky management style I remember proclaiming that the Braves would suffer and Torre would prosper.
I was right, but thank god that Bobby Cox came along later and saved Atlanta from themselves and Generalissimo Turner.
I had to look this fact up here, but ironically Torre left management to become a TV analyst for six whole seasons for the California Angles before coming back into the front lines of the sport as their manager in 1990.
What a HUGE waste of talent, in my opinion, but I could see where he might be discouraged and burned out and based on his success since then I guess that his mother can forgive him.
After this season's unprecedented loss in the playoffs, Torre has been dealing with yet another wealthy megalomaniac in the form of George Steinbrenner, who's management style often resembles that of a pack of Meerkats or some form of mentally handicapped dwarf.
I felt that his treatment was deplorable, but Steinbrenner's got a long long history of bashing managers and then kissing and making up more than once (see Billy Martin.)
According to tonight's breaking news, Torre could take the helm of the LA dodgers as soon as tomorrow, certainly with a better deal than the one year pay cut that Steinbrenner offered him this month to stay with the Yankees.
I don't think that Joe Torre plays the "kiss and make up crap" that Steinbrenner loves, and therefore, all I can say is...
GO JOE GO
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