Joe Torre Releases Book Ripping Steinbrenner, A-Rod

[western_chaos]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Report-Torre-rips-A-Rod-and-Steinbrenner-in-n;_ylt=At2TZfz5aXv5YEjuDYs4iIA5nYcB?urn=mlb,136637

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Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:51 pm EST

Report: Torre 'rips' A-Rod and Steinbrenner in new book
By 'Duk
One would assume the final Sunday in January is the dullest day of the year when it comes to baseball news. Most years one would be right.

Yet there's no way that's the case today. As I type, the baseball blogosphere is ablaze over reports in the New York Post and Daily News that Joe Torre's forthcoming book on his 12-season tenure with the Yankees is sure to be a much talked-about page turner once it's released by Doubleday on Feb. 3.

From the NY Post:

"Scorned skipper Joe Torre is blasting the Yankees ? calling many of his former players prima donnas, confessing he stopped trusting the powers that be years before he left the team and charging that general manager Brian Cashman betrayed him (in his final contract negotiations with the Yankees)." 

The Post says it obtained a copy of "The Yankee Years" because a New York bookstore mistakenly had it up for sale before its release. The paper also reports that Torre reveals that Alex Rodriguez was called "A-Fraud" by his teammates, that Yankee doctors told George Steinbrenner about Torre's prostate cancer before they told Torre himself and that GM Brian Cashman "remained silent during Torre's tense final sitdown with the bosses."

The book is written by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, who culled the third-person account from interviews with Torre. Neither Torre or Verducci seems like the type to lob grenades at incidents past and ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says that a source told him the NY tabloids are simply sensationalizing the book's contents.

"Joe is very honest in the book,'' the source told Crasnick. "But he doesn't make any personal attacks. In terms of him name-calling, that's not his style.''

Still, that bucket of cold water hasn't doused the fervor of bookbuyers ? "TYY" is currently ranked in the top 20 on Amazon ? or the disappointinment of Yankee and Dodger bloggers. "He ain't pretty no more," says the headline on Bronx Banter and presumably that refers to their beloved ex-skipper.

Here's a sampling of the "haven't-it-read-it-yet" reactions:

Steve Lombardi, WasWatching: "Am I shocked that Torre is spilling the beans on them? Sorta/kinda, I guess. Part of me thought Joe was a high-road guy. But, another part of me can see him playing the role of the Vengeful Don." 

Rob, 6-4-2: "A new book on Joe Torre by Tom Verducci will reputedly go after the Steinbrenners, though honestly it doesn't much sound like anything we hadn't heard or imagined before; after all, the contract negotiations, in which the Yankees refused to make more than a one-year deal for Torre's services, had the air of a failing marriage."

Lisa Swan, Subway Squawkers: "But now Joe no longer seems classy. This type of name-calling book is something we would expect out of a long-retired manager or somebody bitter about not being in the game anymore, like Jose Canseco. But Torre is still the highest-paid manager in baseball, still gets tons of endorsement deals, and is still widely respected by many. Why he would be so petty in this new book is beyond either of us."

The book is 477-pages long and undoubtedly will have a lot of positive recollections of four World Series championship appearances. But until the rest of us crack the book's spine, we'll just have to guess how much "ripping" Torre actually does.

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Thoughts?

[Malcolm]

Just read this on TSN literally seconds ago lol...I duno about Jeter and teamates calling A-rod, A-Fraud...maybe happened once...but still it will be an interesting book

[faldor]

I always liked Torre, this only adds to my appreciation for the man.  A-Fraud!  That's great!  I thought only Sox, or non-Yankee fans called him that.  Didn't realize it made its way into the Yankee clubhouse.  At least we still have gAy-Rod to ourselves.

[D]

Alex Rodriguez is probably the most overrated athlete in the history of sports

King of the meaningless 3 run homerun

[western_chaos]

Alex Rodriguez is probably the most overrated athlete in the history of sports

King of the meaningless 3 run homerun

He is on pace to break the home run record in MLB...How is that over-rated?

I think you are letting your personal feelings determine your opinions.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Alex Rodriguez is probably the most overrated athlete in the history of sports

King of the meaningless 3 run homerun

He is on pace to break the home run record in MLB...How is that over-rated?

I think you are letting your personal feelings determine your opinions.

Barry Bonds isn't overrated?

[D]

Let me explain

A Rod is a great STAT guy but he is king of the meaningless statistic.

his stats and play DO NOTHING to earn victories for his team

He sucks in the clutch, sucks in the postseason


there is a difference hitting a walkoff HR and hitting a 3 run home run when your team is up or down 6 runs.

Arod does most of his damage when the game is already decided.

If his team is down 2 runs in the 9th u can chalk up a double play or a strikeout almost everytime.

[tim_m]

Let me explain

A Rod is a great STAT guy but he is king of the meaningless statistic.

his stats and play DO NOTHING to earn victories for his team

He sucks in the clutch, sucks in the postseason


there is a difference hitting a walkoff HR and hitting a 3 run home run when your team is up or down 6 runs.

Arod does most of his damage when the game is already decided.

If his team is down 2 runs in the 9th u can chalk up a double play or a strikeout almost everytime.

That's not entirely true about the postseason. He was actually good in it with seattle and up to game 4 of the alcs against the sox in 2005. Since then the yankees have collectively been a big unclutch turd in the postseason.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Let me explain

A Rod is a great STAT guy but he is king of the meaningless statistic.

his stats and play DO NOTHING to earn victories for his team

He sucks in the clutch, sucks in the postseason


there is a difference hitting a walkoff HR and hitting a 3 run home run when your team is up or down 6 runs.

Arod does most of his damage when the game is already decided.

If his team is down 2 runs in the 9th u can chalk up a double play or a strikeout almost everytime.

That's not entirely true about the postseason. He was actually good in it with seattle and up to game 4 of the alcs against the sox in 2005. Since then the yankees have collectively been a big unclutch turd in the postseason.

That's because he isn't a TRUE YANKEE.

[tim_m]

Let me explain

A Rod is a great STAT guy but he is king of the meaningless statistic.

his stats and play DO NOTHING to earn victories for his team

He sucks in the clutch, sucks in the postseason


there is a difference hitting a walkoff HR and hitting a 3 run home run when your team is up or down 6 runs.

Arod does most of his damage when the game is already decided.

If his team is down 2 runs in the 9th u can chalk up a double play or a strikeout almost everytime.

That's not entirely true about the postseason. He was actually good in it with seattle and up to game 4 of the alcs against the sox in 2005. Since then the yankees have collectively been a big unclutch turd in the postseason.

That's because he isn't a TRUE YANKEE.

Maybe but how do you explain the rest of the teams inability to hit when it counts?

[pilferk]

On the book:

I reserve judgement til I read it.  It doesn't seem either Torre's or Verducci's style...but it IS the Post's style to overblow an exlcusive.  Tabloid journalism at it's finest

On Arod:

The criticism is an urban legend...albeit a prevalent one  The stats have been broken down by a variety of sources (ESPN, SI, baseball-reference, and a whole slew of other stat outfits) all show it's just not true.  He doesn't hit any more "meaningless" home runs than any other comparable power hitter.  He doesn't strike out any more in "clutch" situations than any other power hitter. His BA, OBS, Slug%, et all are right in line with what you'd expect them to be, given the situations. The fact that's the perception speaks more the the pressure and expectations of A-rod (probably due to him being both the best, and highest paid, player in the game) than it does to A-rod's actual performance.

For anyone that would disagree:  Please show me some stats.  EVERY stat breakdown I've seen by EVERY reputable source has shown otherwise.   I'm perfectly willing to have an open mind on this, but you're going to have to provide some proof..since the proof I HAVE seen is contrary to the "Urban Legend".

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=rodrial01

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=rodrial01#situa-clutc

The one, and only, grain of truth in the urban legend is that his postseason stats with the Yanks are FAR below his season stats.  Of course, you can make the argument that, without A-rods season stats, the Yanks very well might not have been IN the post season.  Maybe not an "excuse" but certainly something that should be considered.

[pilferk]

If his team is down 2 runs in the 9th u can chalk up a double play or a strikeout almost everytime.

Proof?

Remember that somewhere around 60% of the time (or more, depending on other factors...and even the 60% is being generous to the hitters OBP), the hitter is going to record an out in the situation you describe, above.  That's what the stats say.

I suspect the truth is people REMEMBER the double plays and strikeouts more then the walks, dribble ground ball outs, long fly ball outs, etc.  Just like they remember the HR's more than the seeing eye or infield singles.  It's the nature of the beast.  And since A-rod is such a lightening rod, and the expectations of him are so (unreasonably) high, it magnifies everything.  The guy is not going to bat 1.000 with 100 HR's in a season.  That's just not realistic...yet it seems to be what everyone expects the guy to do.

[Eazy E]

Atta boy, Joe!

[faldor]

I have that picture saved to my CPU, one of my all time faves.  What a gamer that A-Rod is.  Slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove like the bitch he is.  Oh and who can forget him yelling "Haaa" at the 3rd baseman on that popup a few years ago.  What a good guy!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I have that picture saved to my CPU, one of my all time faves.  What a gamer that A-Rod is.  Slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove like the bitch he is.  Oh and who can forget him yelling "Haaa" at the 3rd baseman on that popup a few years ago.  What a good guy!

Alexa.

Haha.

[pilferk]

I have that picture saved to my CPU, one of my all time faves.  What a gamer that A-Rod is.  Slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove like the bitch he is.  Oh and who can forget him yelling "Haaa" at the 3rd baseman on that popup a few years ago.  What a good guy!

Right.

And who can forget Manny having to take a phone call, or a pee break, in the wall?

Or his "hurt knee".

If you want to argue character, and character of players on certain teams, we can certainly do that I suppose.  But that's a much more "personal opinion" argument, which is going to largely be based on which team you're a fan of.

However, that wasn't the initial point....

[faldor]

I have that picture saved to my CPU, one of my all time faves.  What a gamer that A-Rod is.  Slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove like the bitch he is.  Oh and who can forget him yelling "Haaa" at the 3rd baseman on that popup a few years ago.  What a good guy!

Right.

And who can forget Manny having to take a phone call, or a pee break, in the wall?

Or his "hurt knee".

If you want to argue character, and character of players on certain teams, we can certainly do that I suppose.  But that's a much more "personal opinion" argument, which is going to largely be based on which team you're a fan of.

However, that wasn't the initial point....

Difference is, Manny helped his team win 2 World Series rings.  You certainly can't say the same for A-Rod.  Maybe he should start taking notes on Manny being Manny.  Listen, I hate the guy, I'm not gonna hide that.  I absolutely LOVE the fact that he hasn't won a damn thing with the Yankees.  If that ever changes I won't be able to take this stance anymore.  So I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts.  Much like it did with Peyton Manning.  I can't slam him anymore after he actually won the big game.  I know plenty of Yankee fans who'd much rather have Scott Brosius, Mike Lowell, or even a Joe Crede playing 3B rather than that prima donna A-Rod.  Maybe you're not one of them, but for as great a player as he is, the return on investment has not been there as of yet.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

That's the thing with Yankee fans, they are in constant denial when things are not going well.

[D]

All i know is, Yanks won 4 titles without A Rod and even though their payroll is over 200 million, they haven't won with A Rod cause he can't do shit in the postseason but freeze up.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

All i know is, Yanks won 4 titles without A Rod and even though their payroll is over 200 million, they haven't won with A Rod cause he can't do shit in the postseason but freeze up.

We can play the stats game all day, but THAT is the bottom line.

Please use the stairs in case of an emergency.