Joe Torre Pulls No Punches with New York Yankees in His New Book

Any fan of the New York Yankees, or Major League Baseball for that matter, knows who Joe Torre is. Torre managed the New York Yankees from 1996-2007 before leaving and taking over the reins in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. Torre said little about his departure last year, but now the former Yankee Skipper will come out of his shell with his tell all book and sources say he doesn't pull any punches (source: news.yahoo.com).

The book, which is co-authored by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, is due out on February 3^rd and will be titled The Yankee Years. The book reveals some of the tensions that have gone on over the last few years within the New York Yankees locker room. The book tells how Alex Rodriguez, whose nickname is "A-Rod", was referred to as "A-Fraud" by many of his team mates and goes on to say how he had an obsession with team mate Derek Jeter (source: news.yahoo.com).

The book also talks about the tensions between Torre and some of the upper management of the New York Yankees including the owner George Steinbrenner. It even tells how Torre felt somewhat betrayed in the end by long time Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman who was always thought to be close to Torre during his administration. While Cashman and Torre have since talked, there is no way to tell how severe the comments in the book are until it is released (source: news.yahoo.com).

While some feel the book is simply sour grapes on the part of Joe Torre, others might think of it as poetic justice. Torre led the New York Yankees to the post-season in all twelve years as their manager and won four World Series Titles in those years. Yet when his contract was up, he was offered only a one year deal with a pay cut following the Yankees early exit from the 2007 post season (source: news.yahoo.com).

Torre, feeling slighted, rejected the offer and signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers just a few months later. The result was another playoff appearance for Torre even though his Dodgers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual World Series winners, the Philadelphia Phillies. As for the New York Yankees; they had a good season (as any team with the highest team salary should) but failed to make the post season (source: espn.com).

In typical Joe Torre fashion he made no fuss about what his new team or his old team accomplished during the year, but little did we all know he was storing it up inside. Now the book comes out and for better or for worse will bring to light some of the goings on that led to Joe Torre ultimately leaving a team he helped build; the New York Yankees. The gloves are off and Joe Torre is pulling no punches.