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Torre's mantra: calm in the eye of George

By JOHN ROMANO
Published August 17, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Against all odds, he seems relaxed. The voice is soothing. The eyelids, I suspect, will droop on demand.

Joe Torre is chuckling, teasing, pondering and reminiscing. It is hours before a game, maybe weeks before he's fired, and he appears without a care.

Heaven help him, it's difficult work being this calm.

Anybody can rant. And many have seethed. But no one has taken the storm that is George Steinbrenner's Yankees and produced so many bright days.

The Yankees have never failed to reach the postseason in Torre's nine seasons as manager, although they've never been in this tight of a spot. They have won six pennants and four World Series titles. They have restored the pride in America's most hallowed franchise.

And, still, Torre's patience is being tested.

By injuries and inconsistency. By one slugger caught in a steroid scandal in the spring, and another popping off in a magazine article in the summer. By Mariano Rivera's two blown saves this week, and a young reliever too rattled to throw strikes Tuesday. Mostly, by Steinbrenner's pointed complaints.

He was at it again last week. Steinbrenner questioned Torre's strategy one day, and suggested the manager was underachieving on another.

In the midst of a pennant race, in the twilight of his 10th season on the job, these barbs seemed different. They seemed to have wounded Torre.

Determined, as always, to keep controversy from distracting his players, Torre declined to take to the bait. But he promised the day would come in the offseason when he would address Steinbrenner's rants.

It was a rare break from Torre's usual tranquility. A glimpse, perhaps, of the toll of 10 seasons.

"You get worn down from time to time," Torre acknowledged in the dugout before Monday's game. "The thing that shores me up is the fact when I'm in the dugout, it still comes down to baseball. It's still something to me when I realize I played my first pro baseball game in 1960. It doesn't seem nearly that long. I still love it.

"But, yeah, you do get tired."

Torre's is a job like no other. He is not just a manager, he is a public relations expert. A crisis counselor. A punching bag.

Choosing a pitching rotation or a pinch-hitter is the least of his problems. Just this year, there have been rumors that general manager Brian Cashman is ready to flee. That pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre is on his way out and the Yankees are prepared to pursue Atlanta's Leo Mazzone.

And, now, just as the Yankees were getting hot, the Boss struck again on Tuesday. It wasn't a loud clang. It wasn't a deep cut. Just a pinprick to remind everyone he is still around.

Steinbrenner had his publicist issue a statement praising Tampa-based pitching guru Billy Connors for his work in getting Jaret Wright healthy.

It would be nice to think Steinbrenner was interested only in giving a pat on the back. It would also be naive. It's hard not to look at the compliment as a back-handed slap at Torre's major league staff.

You could say it comes with the territory, and this is true. Torre pockets around $6-million a year to handle the job. And he is given baseball's largest payroll, which means expectations are deservedly high.

Torre understands this. He accepts this. When he looks across at Lou Piniella in the opposite dugout, he knows he wouldn't have it any other way.

The Yankees may have an owner who doesn't know when to shut his mouth, but the Rays have an owner who doesn't know when to open his wallet.

Who would you rather work for? Steinbrenner wants to win. He gives the Yankees the money they need to win. That is commendable. But his attempts at motivation by intimidation are misguided and, you would have to think, counterproductive.

Which is why Torre has generally refused to get in public disputes with Steinbrenner. And it's one of the reasons the Yankees have had their greatest success since the days of Casey Stengel.

"It's just understanding things that go with the territory instead of overreacting to them," Torre said. "My concern is my players. If they see me fluctuate, they're going to react to that. And that's why I try to stay the same."

Even so, it's not hard to imagine the end is near. If the Yankees fail to make the postseason, Torre's job could be in jeopardy. Even if they do reach the playoffs, it is not inconceivable to imagine Torre would agree to some type of buyout for the final two years and $13-million on his contract.

Funny how these things work. Piniella would like to find an escape route because Rays ownership doesn't care enough. Torre might look for an exit because Steinbrenner gets too involved.

For now, Torre is keeping it low key. The future, he says, is today. He hasn't had time to think of tomorrow.

For now, he's in the dugout.

And he's holding on, remarkably, to the calm.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:10:12]