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June 05, 2006
Schill Hearts Torre
From the Boston Herald -
Curt Schilling stopped to watch ESPN before yesterday’s game against the Tigers. A graphic happened to include the Yankees.
“That’s your manager of the year right there,” Schilling said. “Joe Torre has done an unbelievable job. Their disabled list probably has a higher payroll than a lot of teams.”
Regardless, the Sox, and Schilling in particular, can’t help but admire how Torre has dealt with adversity.
“I’m stunned,” Schilling said. “Joe’s done a phenomenal job. It’s not a knock on their talent, but you’d expect a team with that many catastrophic injuries to struggle. And they’ve done the exact opposite. They came in here and took 3-of-4 from a team that’s as good as any in the American League, short of the White Sox. I’m surprised, but I’m not. If you look at his resume, it speaks for itself.”
“Joe will never take credit for it. He’ll say the players have to execute,” Schilling said. “But part of it is a manager putting the players in a position to succeed.”
Those players are often rookies.
“Everybody talks about the Yankees not having any prospects, but guys keep coming up and they keep producing,” Schilling said. “Melky Cabrera can play. Anybody outside the Yankees organization that told you a year ago that Robinson Cano was a stud prospect was full of (expletive). Last year they were all banging on the guy like, ‘This is their best prospect?’ Now they talk about him like he’s the next Rod Carew.”
Schilling also noted the difficulty of debuting in New York.
“The guys they’re bringing up, that’s not a small stage they’re stepping onto,” he said. “That has a lot to do with the way Joe interacts with those guys. Anything to temper the adrenaline that goes on when you play in that environment as a young player is huge.”
Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
OK, just one question - if Torre is the reason the Yankees do well, then whose fault is it when they don't do well? Curt, any thoughts on that?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at June 5, 2006 10:45 AM
Comments
Obviously, The Big Schill has no idea what he's talking about. As usual. What's he politicking for...to get traded to the Yankees? Yeah, his biological clock is ticking again. Philly-Arizona-Boston-??? Torre "interacting" with rookies? Even if you love the guy, that's the last thing you would name in his skill-set.
Posted by: JohnnyC ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 5, 2006 12:44 PM
Ask again once the Yanks stop winning their division.
Posted by: rbj at June 5, 2006 01:28 PM
I used to say quite often that Torre couldn't handle rookies. Since then I was corrected.
Jeter, Rivera, Soriano, Nick Johnson, Jorge Posada, and even Wang are all rookies who played during Torre's era.
The problem Torre has, is not with rookies, it is with the borderline prospects. He is fine with the real, true prospects, but the guys that don't project to be more than bench players or a platoon are his weakness.
Posted by: Jeteupthemiddle at June 5, 2006 01:44 PM
Well we know whose fault 90%+ of Yankees losses are by reading this blog and most other Yankee blogs -- Joe Torre. So Schilling passes out some kudos to a guy deserving of them and what do we get? But balance? What's balance.
So much winning, so much whining.
Posted by: Don at June 5, 2006 02:21 PM
I think it is absurd to say that 90% of Yankee losses are the result of the manager.
Posted by: Jeteupthemiddle at June 5, 2006 02:24 PM
The problem Torre has, is not with rookies, it is with the borderline prospects. He is fine with the real, true prospects, but the guys that don't project to be more than bench players or a platoon are his weakness.
===================
Please clarify.
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Shane Spencer, Ricky Ledee, & Juan Rivera
Posted by: Raf at June 5, 2006 02:29 PM
Well yeah, I can think of those as well. I was just responding to someone scoffing at the idea of Torre interacting with rookies. Clearly his record shows he does.
With this year, you can point to Andy Phillips (until injuries forced him otherwise) and Kevin Thompson as well as some bullpen people, as evidence he has issues with the "borderline" prospect.
Posted by: Jeteupthemiddle at June 5, 2006 02:37 PM
I think it is absurd to say that 90% of Yankee losses are the result of the manager.
====================
I hope you were being as tongue-in-cheek as I was.
Because if you read WasWatching or other Yankee tomes that is what 'fans' belive.
As for "borderline" prospects, the Yankees are expected to win and under Torre they do. There really isn't any reason, barring injuries as in 2006, to play too many borderline prospects.
Posted by: Don at June 5, 2006 02:58 PM
I think we all have a pretty good what we everybody here thinks about Torre. Do we need to rehash it every thread?
Posted by: hopbitters at June 5, 2006 03:30 PM