Thanks, Moose...
... for setting people straight on Joe Torre.
“Joe has started something that a lot of people are going to have to answer to,” Mike Mussina said by telephone on Thursday. “Joe’s going to have to answer to it too, but it won’t be as bad for him because he’s with the Dodgers now. But it’s going to be bad for the guys he left behind.”
Mussina said, “it’s not just what goes on in the clubhouse, it’s sitting on the bus, or if you’re out having lunch. As a ballplayer you need to know who you have to watch out for and who you can trust. First and foremost, you should be able to trust your manager.
“I mean, people knew that Brown was out there, and that Randy was ornery all the time. And Pavano is whoever he is. But if you’re their manager, you can’t go out and write about them like that.”
Mussina’s point can be boiled into a single indictment: you can’t just be the manager of the good soldiers, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. You have to lead them all — including the disturbed and unreliable ones. Actually, it was Torre’s mandate to especially act as a higher authority to players like Brown, Pavano, A-Rod and Gary Sheffield.
Labels: joe torre, moose, torre is dumb
posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 12:22 PM
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comments
4 Comments:
Love him, but is dissing Pavano in the book (uh, among other times) really that much better than what Torre did? I get that Torre was the manager, not him, but still. Not that I personally care either way.
Honestly, I'm pretty indifferent to the whole super-special clubhouse code thing. I think it's fair to say that Torre violated it, although not to the extent that the media would have you believe (the book is pretty tame, really). What creeps me out the most are the people who are so invested in how Torre is this asshole hypocrite. Like sure, he is, to some extent. But whatever. I guess I don't have it in me to get worked up.
There are two significant differences with Torre and Moose:
Moose is retired and doesn't have to face guys in a clubhouse anymore, while the guys on the Dodgers should watch their backs.
Torre was the manager who specifically made a point of saying these things should stay internal. He went off on Wells when he published his book and got the Yankees to fine him $100,000 for writing it. He's a hypocrite; Mussina isn't.
Sure, but I don't think Moose made those comments thinking "it's OK if I say ____, because I'm going to retire." I think he would have said everything he said regardless of his playing status. I think Torre is a hell of a lot "more" of a hypocrite, but it just seems weird to read those comments re: the book/Torre from Moose considering some of his very pointed statements in the book. He and Borzello (especially the latter) come out of it all as the most critical.
Moose made his Pavano comments during spring training when Pavano was still on the team. He called him out in front of him... not later, behind his back.
I really don't see the two as similar at all.
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