Emotional Torre Senses His End is Near: Yankees-Indians Notebook

Oct 09, 07:50 AM

Current Headlines: By Mike Harrington, The Buffalo News, N.Y.

Oct. 9--NEW YORK -- Joe Torre didn't want to address his status late Monday night but it sure seemed like he was saying farewell. His lip quivering and his voice cracking with emotion, the New York Yankees manager all but acknowledged that the Game Four loss to the Cleveland Indians in the division series is going to be his final game.

"This has been a great 12 years whatever the hell happens from here on out," Torre said after the Yankees' 6-4 loss. "I'll look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure. For a kid who had never been to the World Series other than watching my brother play in the '50s and paying for tickets, to have been in six . . . I can tell you one thing: It never gets old.

"It's exciting. The 12 years just felt like they were 10 minutes long, to be honest with you."

Owner George Steinbrenner's edict that Torre's job was on the line Sunday certainly resonated throughout the city. Talk-show callers were abuzz with support for the skipper Monday and fans chanted Torre's name as he made pitching changes in the eighth inning.

"I was hoping I was going to go out there a couple more times," Torre said, finding a reason to smile. "Not for that, but just to keep the game going on longer. You certainly can't ignore it and these fans are very special. You can feel their heartbeat, not hear it. You can feel it."

Torre's teams won the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. But the Yankees haven't been to the Fall Classic since 2003 and they are just 3-13 in postseason games since they had their 3-0 lead over the Red Sox in the infamous 2004 ALCS.

"I bury myself in my players," he said. "I just finished telling them how proud I am with what they did. They dug themselves out of a [21-29] hole . . . and they did a lot of very positive things. I know we all get judged by how it ends up but there's so much that goes on between the start and finale that sometimes you forget because you're caught up in the result."

Torre was then asked point-blank if he wanted to come back in 2008 and said he "wasn't going there." But reporters were stunned to then hear him use the word "they" when talking about his team.

"They have a great future," Torre said. "The young kids who came down the pike here is something different for the Yankees. There's no question the quality of people, and not just the ability, is very impressive."

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Cleveland manager Eric Wedge on not using ace C.C. Sabathia on three days rest: "He's pushing 250 innings for the season. We're not going to put anybody in harm's way, much less one of the best pitchers in baseball. It's not going to happen. From a common sense standpoint, people should understand that."

The numbers certainly back Wedge as Chien-Ming Wang's loss dropped starters to 12-31 on three days rest in the postseason since 1999. And the Indians were certainly spooked at the prospect after what Mike Hargrove did in the 1999 division series against Boston.

Cleveland blew a 2-0 lead in that series, in part because Bartolo Colon pitched Game Four and Charles Nagy threw Game Five on three days rest. The Red Sox scored 35 runs in those two games and they were the last for Hargrove as Indians skipper.

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Wang became the first Yankees starter to last fewer than two innings in a home postseason game.

"It looked like his stuff was good and it looked like he was throwing the ball hard," Torre said. "But he just got hurt with balls up."

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The Indians made their first major lineup changes of the series, largely so they could get Byrd's personal catcher, Kelly Shoppach, into the lineup.

Early in the year, Shoppach caught Byrd as a way to give Victor Martinez either a day off entirely or a bit of a rest from catching by putting him at first base and the combination clicked so well it hasn't been changed.

Shoppach had two doubles in three at-bats and was thrilled to see Byrd respond on the mound.

"The man had 15 wins during the regular season and probably had five no-decisions he came out with the lead," Shoppach noted. "I felt like he would give us a chance to win and that's the bottom line. Give us a chance to win and this offense is good enough to get it done."

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The victory allowed Cleveland to break a six-game losing streak in potential elimination games. In addition to losing Sunday, the Tribe dropped the final two games of the '01 division series against Seattle and blew a 2-0 lead against Boston in 1999, dropping the series in Game Five at Jacobs Field.

Former Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch and was greeted with the customary chants of "Reggie, Reggie" by the crowd.

mharrington@buffnews.com

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