Joe Torre retires as LA Dodgers’ manager - in comes Don Mattingly
For a man who has done so much for Major League Baseball, Joe Torre announced recently that he will not be continuing on as the Los Angeles Dodgers manager. Only on Friday, the 70-year-old veteran decided to hang up his boots and introduced Don Mattingly
in front of the press who is expected to replace him. The top class manager informed the press and fans about his decision in a news conference at the Dodgers’ Stadium. The rotation will take immediate effect in 2011 and that will mark the skipper’s last days
as the head of the team.
The announcement came before the Dodgers game with the Colorado Rockies. Torre delivered the news without shedding any tears and focused on the other developments that were out there to pique his curiosity. He said, “Baseball has been my life, and hopefully
will continue to be my life in some capacity. When I came out here, it was just to find out if managing can be fun again, and it's been fun. But you have to make some decisions by instinct, and my instinct tells me it's time to go." In a way, the season’s
long performance made a big contribution towards the decision. Los Angeles is currently ranked 4th in the table and owner Frank McCourt’s messy public trial hasn’t helped the side that exited gain-less from the last transfer window. The two key
reasons have been rumoured to be the main cause for Joe’s call on retirement.
Torre played in the National league for most of his life. He was a nine time all-star player and he carried a batting average of 0.297. He smashed 252 homers and converted 1,185 RBIs (Runs Batted In) in his illustrious career. He debuted for the Milwaukee
Brewers in 1960, playing through for 17 years in Major League Baseball till June 17, when he featured for the New York Mets in his final game. He was part of the St. Louis Cardinals as well during those years, making him into a very popular person in the league.
Joe went on to manage all three teams he played for, after which he went straight to the New York Yankees. Before that he had a stint at broadcasting for 5 years between 1985 and 1990, where he starred as a television analyst for the California Angels and
featured as a guest analyst for ESPN during the 1989 World Series.
In 1996, when Torre joined the Yankees as a manager, he was openly debased by the New York City press as being a mistake and a problem for the team - being referred to as ‘Clueless Joe’. George Steinbrenner was renowned for his harsh treatment towards club
managers and was rumoured to have marked the Joe’s days already. However, Torre never failed and led the Yankees to the playoffs in the 12 seasons he skippered. The underdog rallied the team to their first World Series title since 1981 in 1996 when his team
annihilated the Atlanta Braves.
Torre was phenomenal as he led the Yankees to three straight World Series titles from 1998 to 2000. He was awarded the American League Manager of the Year award twice and he continued with the team till 2007 when a bad string of results saw the veteran skipper
leave New York. He joined the Dodgers in 2008 and since then has made the team look their best in the competition, minus the current season. The gaffer led the side to National League West titles in 2008 and 2009. He led the team to back-to-back playoff appearances.
However, the side never made it through as far as they could due to the Philadelphia Phillies who defeated them in the two championship series.
Now, times have changed and Mattingly has taken the reigns from the skipper. It comes as no surprise to some who believe this was going to happen anyways. Joe was always going to pass the torch to someone from his managing team and Don fit the bill perfectly
as his career for the Yankees was extraordinary for many baseball fans. The new man credited his inspiration for the responsibility to Torre, Yogi Berra, Dallas Green and Billy Martin by saying, "its baseball, and I've been around the game a long time. In
my heart, I know I can do this. It's a belief in myself that I can do anything I put my mind to."
The one question on everyone’s mind however is what will Torre do? Many claim he will join the Dodgers administration but no one knows for sure. Perhaps, it wouldn’t be disrespectful to call him ‘Clueless Joe’ now, right?
Tags: