Torre OK with not being selected for All-Star coaching staff (AP)
28 minutes ago
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Joe Torre doesn't mind that he was left off the coaching staff for the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. He might not have accepted an invitation anyway.
"I'm with a new team now," Torre told The Associated Press Friday night after his Los Angeles Dodgers were beaten 4-2 by the Angels. " (Yankees manager) Joe Girardi is a coach for the All-Star Game, and deservedly so. They usually take the local city's managers as coaches. Besides, I'm not sure that if I got a call, I would say yes. Going over there at this point in time, I may serve as more of a distraction than to go over there and help the manager win a ballgame."
National League manager Clint Hurdle, who guided the Colorado Rockies to their first pennant last year, decided not to add Torre to his coaching staff for the game on July 15. Instead he invited San Diego manager Bud Black and New York Mets skipper Willie Randolph, who was a member of Torre's coaching staff in the Bronx for 11 seasons — one of them as bench coach.
"I have no problem with that," Torre said. "I mean, anything that happens at Yankee Stadium is a spectacle, and I'm sure that it's going to be a very special time there. But I have no emotional feelings about it at all."
The Brooklyn-born Torre spent 12 years with the Yankees, managing them to four World Series championships, six AL pennants and 10 division titles — never missing the postseason in his tenure. He managed the AL All-Stars six times, so one more trip to the midsummer classic as Hurdle's assistant wouldn't enhance his already bulging resume.
"I mean, I spent so many days and games in that ballpark and so many special nights — postseason," Torre said. "I mean, I've got a bucket full of memories. The All-Star game certainly is going to be a spectacle, but I'm certainly satisfied with the time I put in there."
Yankees fans will get to cheer Torre's successor, Joe Girardi, who was chosen by AL manager Terry Francona.
The last time Yankee Stadium hosted the All-Star game was in 1977. That was Torre's first season as Mets manager.
Hurdle, who played for the Mets two years after Torre was fired during the 1981 season, explained his choice of Randolph, who played for the Yankees from 1976-88 and coached for them from 1994-04.
"Willie has a lot of All-Star game experience with Joe Torre, helping him put together the lineup and manage the flow of the game," Hurdle said in Denver before the Twins beat the Rockies 4-2. "I have a ton of respect for Willie as a player. This will be a lifetime special moment for him to go back.
With Yankee Stadium closing at the end of the season, Hurdle indicated the Yankees could honor some of their former managers and coaches who are still in the league in another manner.
"It still leaves the opportunity for the Yankees, if they decide, to honor somebody else — Torre, (Cubs manager Lou) Piniella — in any way," Hurdle added. "They've got that opportunity to do that on their own. But I think Willie was a proper and good fit for our club."