The Yankee Years

At first glance it seemed strange that when "Sports Illustrated" published an excerpt from this book in a recent issue that it was the final chapter of "The Yankee Years." But now that I have read the book it makes sense because from start to finish the punchline that the Yankees let Joe Torre walk away from the job of managing the team pretty much overshadows everything that happens. It is like there is a subliminal message behind every success Torre had on the field that whispers to the reader "Can you believe they would ever fire this guy?" I started rooting for the New York Yankees in 1965, and for those of you without an encyclopedic recollection of the history of the team that was the year they stopped winning World Championships until George Steinbrenner bought the team from CBS and started playing his own peculiar brand of money ball. When Torre was hired to manage the Yankees I did not think it was necessarily a bad move, but I certainly did not think it was a great move. Any doubt that it was the right man in the right place at the right time, was removed years ago and "The Yankee Years" only confirms what seems obvious to everybody in baseball. It also reinforces the idea that the aforementioned punchline is not even remotely funny.Joe Torre's name comes before Tom Verducci's and there is no doubt as to which of them has the greater cachet (I was always suprised that he was not the first manager that McFarlane Toys put out as an action figure in their quest to have at least one Yankee in each and every series). But "The Yankee Years" is much more Verducci's book; he is the one telling the story and making the arguments, with Torre providing period commentary. There is a sense in which the book reads like a documentary, and you can imagine the clips of Torre or any of the players and other baseball people quoted running. In fact, there are portions of the book in which Torre's voice disappears, and that brings into focus the other supporting voices in the story. Representing the "Before" and "After" perspectives are Yankees pitchers David Cone and Mike Mussina, with the attendant irony being that unlike the old Charles Atlas ads, the "Before" period for the Yankeees is the better one where they were winning four championship in five years.As the years go by and Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams are repalced by Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, and Johnny Damon the reader is repeatedly reminded that these new players have not produced titles like their predecessors (I would be willing to bet that Brosius, O'Neill and Martinez are mentioned more often in the book after they had retired or left the Yankees than when they played for Torre, and with each mention they take another step towards being on the fabled plateau of Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio). It is not privileged as such, but for me the decision not to resign Andy Pettite is the line of demarcation and it has been all downhill for the Yankees since that point. That being said, despite Torre's refusal to blow his own horn when he speaks in his own voice in this book, Verducci makes an excellent case for Torre's Hall of Fame credentials as a manager, not just because of the seasons with the rings, but with the results he got with teams that should not have made the playoffs. For Steinbrenner and Yankees fans a year without a World Series title is an empty cup even if it is otherwise filled almost to the brim. This is presented as the stark reality of the New York Yankees, and although there is an obvious impulse to think it is not fair, I am reminder that in life nobody promises fair and then you die.The villain in the piece ends up being Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, in part because George Steinbrenner's deteriorating health becomes an abrogation of the Boss's power. A strong undercurrent of the book is Verducci's indictment of Cashman as the GM, specifically in comparison to a couple of his counterparts, Oakland's Billy Beane and Boston's Theo Epstein. "The Yankees Years" certainly chronicles all of the bad moves Torre has made on the field, but on balance the good moves certainly outweigh. However, by the end you are hard pressed to use up all of the fingers on one hand trying to count the good moves Cashman made as GM, especially given the growing litany of overpriced broken down pitchers the Yankees have signed this century. In a lesser battle, now rendered irrelevant because of his admitting using steroids, A-Rod is seen as not even playing the same ballpark as Derek Jeter, and if there is a new indication of steroid use as a result of this book it is going to tar any player that demands his own trainer. It is unfortunate that Rodriguez's admission has become the unwritten coda to this book, but it should have been the final masterstroke of irony, namely that last season for the first time since before Torre took the helm, the Yankees did not make the playoffs, while Torre's new team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, did make it to the postseason. Yankees fans might not want to admit it, but it makes for a better punchline.

I'm a long time MLB NY Yankees fan. I wanted to learn more about Joe Torre and the years he managed the Yankees.The writer and researcher Tom Verducci with Joe Torre's input have wrote a good book about Joe Torre and the twelve years with the NY Yankees. The book has some GREAT color pictures! The book read well. A few parts were a little dry in regards to some the exact play by play by players I never heard of. However,95% of the book was good.We see Joe Torre hired as the manager of the NY Yankees. He was the owner George Steinbrenner's forth choice. Joe had a below average managing record with no WS experience. The media and fans called him "clueless Joe" as they believed he had no idea of how to win the World Series.What Joe had was many great players. Finally he had the "big horses... super stars" to be a winner.We see Joe's management style of honesty,openness and dignity. He wanted to treat all his players and upper management with honesty. He preferred face to face explanations rather than behind someones back. Unfortunately some of the players and management did things behind his back and made deals. We see George Steinbrenner when he was younger as a micro manager using his lieutenants to deliver the bad news and do roundabouts behind Torre's back. Lots of stabbing in the back. Steinbrenner tried to rule by threats and intimidation. Torre had non of it and stood up to him and did not let George intimidate him. Of course there were things Joe had no control of as George had the money to effect trades ect. We see Cashman as the GM working with George and Joe.After three WS series wins, and spending much much more than any other baseball club Steinbrenner expected the Yankees to win every year. Any thing less was not acceptable. We see the mistakes of getting expensive players who contributed very little to the Yankees and were gone the next year. The core Yankees got older and older and the pitching farm system stunk. Upper management spend millions and millions on throw away bad pitchers. The Yankees did have a few great pitchers and a great closer but they were getting older and less reliable.Also we see the TV revenue distributed to all the ball clubs helping to partially level the spending field. Also Cleveland who did not have big money to compete with the Yankees developed intelligence software technology to have all baseball players stats available to them. This way they could go after a hidden gem that Yankee scouts knew nothing about.We see the Yankees throwing away millions of dollars on players that did not work out rather than using information gathering technology. Also teams like the Indians would sign 15 Latin country players for a tiny $10,000 bonus a piece. Even if one of them developed into a good player they were well ahead.INMO the woes of the Yankees after Torres three WSW wins were a large part due to upper managements style of finding players...using the old system of throwing money around vs the newer system of info technology to find hidden gem players. Plus the expensive players getting older and less reliable did not help.We see Joe getting his forth WS win but the Yankees having problems. Steinbrenner is older and not doing well physically and mentally. He delegates a team of "the voices" to run the Yankees as he is only a shell of his former self. After his contract is over, Joe asks "the voices" and Steinbrenner "Do you want me to manage next year."Joe tells GM Cashman his plan for a two year contract with major give backs in the second year if he doesn't do well. Cashman is supposed to present this to "the voices". He does not and stabs Torre in the back. Joe says no to a one year $5 Million contract as he did not want to be under the micro managing thumb of "the voices" and a lame duck one term manager who would be threatened to be fired all the time.Joe leaves the Yankees thanking George for the opportunity to manage the Yankees and all the good years he had.The book had kind of a sad ending with Torre being stabbed in the back by unsupportive GM Cashman and the unappreciative "the voices". A good book, learning about the Yankees in the Torre years through Joe Torre's eyes. 4 stars

GREAT BOOK ABOUT ONE OF THE TRUE LEGENDS OF BASEBALL.

This book is very dissapointing because if you happened to follow the Yankee regularly between 1996 to 2007, you'll learn next to nothing.The question of trust between Torre and his players, between Torre and management is central to the book, so central in fact it's like a song played over and over again.Spend your money on some other baseball book.

A deep view into Mr.T’s tenure with the Yankees. His thoughts, views and feelings while he was managing the Yankees.

Habe diese Buch verschenkt und die Freude darüber war sehr groß. Es ist wirklich super angekommen. Na logo, wenn man Yankee-Fan ist.

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