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October 21, 2007
Hank Stein Reponds To Torre
From the Post -
Flashing some of his father's famous feistiness, Hank Steinbrenner fired back yesterday after hearing Joe Torre say he was insulted by the team's offer to manage the Yankees for a 13th season.
"Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him?" said the new Boss. "My dad was crucified for hiring him.
"Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity - and the great team he was handed," Steinbrenner told The Post by phone from Tampa, Fla.
Steinbrenner said the offer was fair, and that Torre had to accept part of the responsibility for the team's failures. The Yankees have not won a championship since 2000.
"You can't take credit for success when you're going good, and then not take at least some of the blame when things change," Steinbrenner said. "I'm sorry he feels insulted, but that was not the intent."
George Steinbrenner hired Torre after a series of disappointing managing gigs. Torre had flopped with the Mets and had an overall losing record - 894 wins, 1,003 losses, and one playoff appearance in 12 managerial seasons.
"Now, was he the perfect guy to manage that team? It seems that way. He did a great job, no question."
He said he likes and respects Torre, calling him a "top manager" and "class guy."
"I sincerely wanted Joe to accept that offer," said Steinbrenner, who with brother Hal has assumed day- to-day decision making for the team. "We all wanted him to accept it, probably me more than anybody else."
"You don't make an offer bluffing. What if he says yes?" he added. "I was hoping he'd say yes."
He does make good points here.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at October 21, 2007 09:02 AM
Comments
Kinda reminds me of Steinbrenner vs. Gabe Paul way back when...
Posted by: Raf ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 21, 2007 09:44 AM
"I was hoping he'd say yes."
So why, when Torre in essence counter-offered, did the group immediately shut him down?
This Hank sounds like a big schmuck.
Yogi II.
Posted by: Joel at October 21, 2007 10:00 AM
This Hank sounds like a big schmuck.
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A certain saying about apples and trees comes to mind :)
Posted by: Raf at October 21, 2007 10:13 AM
These kind of blowhard comments must make daddy George proud. Many Yankee fans are furious enough w/o junior adding fuel to the fire. He's just like his old man - he doesn't know when to shut up.
Posted by: redbug at October 21, 2007 11:32 AM
The pertinence or accuracy of Hank's point is irrelevant. It is clear that Hank, just like his a$$hole father, doesn't understand that getting the last word in is sometimes pointless. This idiot had the good fortune of being born into an empire. Someone should remind him that he, like Torre, owe things to Steinbrenner that should never be forgotten.
The Steinbrenners are a blight on New York and I'll hate them eternally.
Posted by: MJ at October 21, 2007 04:10 PM
~~~The Steinbrenners are a blight on New York and I'll hate them eternally.~~~
Do you remember what it was like when CBS owned the team?
FWIW, also, how can someone be a blight on a city where they've given millions, several millions, to charity over a 30 year period?
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at October 21, 2007 04:18 PM
The fact that he donated a lot of money (which is what everyone talks about when it comes to Steinbrenner), doesn't overshadow things like the Nixon and Spira incidents, to name a couple.
Do I think he's a blight on NY? No, I can think of quite a few other people who fit the bill (Manes, Helmsley, Steinberg, Berkowitz off the top of my head), but he is far from a saint.
Posted by: Raf at October 21, 2007 05:12 PM
Do you remember what it was like when CBS owned the team?
FWIW, also, how can someone be a blight on a city where they've given millions, several millions, to charity over a 30 year period?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, I was born in 1975 so anything I know about the CBS years is from friends and relatives who lived through those lousy seasons.
I don't care what Steinbrenner has done with his money. To me, it says a lot more about the kind of person you are when you treat your employees and co-workers with respect. Any billionaire can give money to charity. It takes a special person - namely, a properly socialized human being - to treat employees and co-workers with respect. And I'm not even referring to the events in recent days. I'm talking about behaving HORRIBLY with his employees for the better part of 30 years.
Maybe blight is a strong word. Raf is right that people like Donald Manes, Leona Helmsley, and the two sociopathic murderers are worse human beings. But let's not use George's charity to make him out to be something he's not. He's a lousy human being. If the Yanks had not won those WS in the 90's, he wouldn't have the fuzzier image he has now. He's an abominable tyrant and his son appears to have learned those same character flaws at Daddy's knee.
Posted by: MJ at October 22, 2007 03:09 PM