Joe Torre: What You Didn’t Hear
The former Yankees manager talks about his old team, A-Rod and why he stands behind everything in his new book.
So far, the sports-radio buzz on manager Joe Torre's new book, "The Yankee Years," has been all about slugger Alex Rodriguez and how some teammates rechristened him "A-Fraud." But it's actually one of the few serious revelations in the 500-page book. The real shock is that Torre, so circumspect through his decade-plus in the Bronx, has publicly criticized his former team at all. Even more surprising is how he did it: co-written with Tom Verducci, the book is a third-person narrative that, while quoting Torre liberally, offers many opinions not attributed directly to him. The format has opened up Torre to criticism that he was able to land punches without appearing to throw any himself. Does he stand by everything that was written? "I've got to," Torre said during an interview with NEWSWEEK's Mark Starr. "My name is on the book." Other highlights:
On the Red Sox rivalry: "I love the city [of Boston]. I love the people. I always kid Sox fans: 'When you go through the turnstile, what happens to you?' The rivalry wears you out. Every single game becomes crazy. [Red Sox manager] Terry Francona and I would talk to each other after each series and we'd say, 'Boy, am I glad that's over—for five or six weeks'."
On steroid use by Yankee players: "I never saw evidence of anything. I saw home runs go way over the fence, so there were questions you always ask. I guess I didn't want to believe more than not believing. Without concrete evidence, it was tough for me to go and question somebody. I had a job to do, to put a ball club on the field, and the last thing I wanted to do was to throw a monkey wrench. Whether I wasn't strong enough or too naïve, I just wanted to stay out of somebody else's business."
On working for " The Boss " : "When it came down to George [Steinbrenner] and myself, there was a lot of heart and a lot of soul there. Despite all the stuff that went on—yeah, he'd get angry—you understood that if you're going to take this job, that goes with it. You can't pick and choose which piece of him you want to keep.
On leaving the Yankees: "Unfortunately, the bottom line is what it's all about—that's the way things are done in New York. I may have become overly sensitive about it, but when you shake it all out and look at it from the outside, that's pretty much where you lived as a member of the Yankees—you always lived on the edge.
On Alex Rodriguez: "When Alex came, he was used to being No. 1, and with good reason, because he's always the most talented one around. I talked to Alex about just being one of the guys. He had trouble making that adjustment. He wanted to be—I don't want to say the most important guy—but the one who was counted on. He gets in his own way a lot. When he makes an out, he makes it seem later like it was no big deal. But you know he's churning inside. [He's] got to get beyond that and not be so concerned with failing.
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Mark Starr was named a senior editor in March 1998. He continues to serve as Newsweek's Boston bureau chief, where he has been headquartered since 1985. Starr has also held the title national sports correspondent since 1992. Before moving to Boston, he spent four years as a general editor in National Affairs.
Starr has covered eight Olympics, beginning with the Winter Games in Albertville and the Summer Games in Barcelona back in 1992. Before the Salt Lake Olympics, he wrote a cover story on American skating queen Michelle Kwan and, during the Games, covered both figure skating's judging scandal and Sarah Hughes' upset gold medal. In December 2001, Starr profiled Hughes in Newsweek's year-end issue as the "Athlete to Watch" in 2002, calling her a strong upset possibility in Salt Lake.
He was also prominently involved in four cover stories on the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga, which climaxed on the ice in Lillehamer, Norway in 1994. Starr has also covered three World Cups, writing cover stories on the shocking French men's home triumph in 1998 as well as America's "girls of summer," after they beat the Chinese in a thrilling Rose Bowl shootout in 1999. Starr has always been interested in women's sports. In 1996, he wrote on the U.S. women's basketball team hopes for an Olympic gold medal to jump-start a pro league. A year earlier Starr sailed with the women of America3 before its America's Cup challenge in San Diego.
Starr was a major contributor to Newsweek's special issue on the retirement of Michael Jordan, "The Greatest Ever" (October/November 1993) and the March 20, 1995, cover story on Jordan's first return to basketball, "Hoop Dreams." Starr has profiled a wide range of top personalities and performers in all sports including basketball's Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, baseball's Pedro Martinez, NFL coaches Steve Spurrier and Bill Parcells, skating star Tara Lipinski, tennis' Martina Hingis, boxing champ Evander Holyfield, track stars Marion Jones, Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis, soccer superstars Roberto Baggio and Mia Hamm, Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, speedskating queen Bonnie Blair and golfer David Duval.
Starr has also covered some of the more dramatic political stories out of Massachusetts, including John Silber's longshot bid to capture the State House, congressman Barney Frank's revelation that he was gay and Michael Dukakis's 1988 campaign for the presidency. Starr rode the Dukakis "bus" from New Hampshire until the November election.
Prior to Newsweek, Starr covered Central America for the Chicago Tribune during the Sandinista revolution of the late '70s. He was also a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury-News.
Starr, a native of Boston, holds a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.A. in journalism from Stanford.
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