Legendary manager Joe Torre looks to conquer one last peak at World Baseball Classic
Joe Torre has seen it all in his career in various capacities in Major League Baseball. As a player, he had a career that lasted 18 years and had great numbers to show for it. Having a .297 batting average shows the class of the hitter.
He did even better as a manager. Staying in the business for all of 31 years is not easy and to have a winning ratio is even more difficult. Winning four World Series Championships and a 2494-2152 winning record with a ratio of .537 it quite amazing.
Currently he has the spot as the executive vice president of baseball operations for MLB. He is now out to conquer one last frontier and that is winning the World Baseball Classic for the USA as the team’s manager.
He recently conversed with the media on various aspects in the upcoming event and how he aims to deal with the challenges that will be faced by his team in the WBM.
When Joe was asked as to why the team had failed to win in any of the first two editions of the event, the manager explained that the timing of the event had a role to play in that. He said that the event starts around the time when Spring Training is underway
and players are getting into their groove both physically and mentally.
It is perhaps a time when they are not completely ready and as competitive as they would like to be. Torre believes that it is different when you look at it when you are sitting outside the game.
“I think the time of year has something to do with it. Spring Training is a time when you get into shape, physically. The mental part you slowly work your way up to it. Witnessing it from the outside, that's the one area that things obviously have to be
a little different,” Torre said.
Joe also said that the team will not be thinking about winning the event from the start all the time and they will take it in strides. It may not sound too exciting but it has to be one game at a time and every win will have meaning.
“It sounds trite, but we have to just go out there and play one game at a time, with the need to win every single game, every single day," the manager said.
Joe also knows that once you put on a uniform, you have to give it your all. He knows that you cannot always win but you must make sure that you uphold the dignity that you get by getting a chance to represent someone.
“Emotionally, once you put that uniform on, it's a responsibility. And it's not necessarily the winning part of it, but the way you carry yourself and go about it,” Joe said.
One hopes that Joe and his men are successful at the event and even if they do not win, they provide us with some great competitive baseball. That is the essence of the sport itself.
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