Rob Lep and STAT Sports go one-on-one with New York Yankees legend Joe Torre at the latter’s annual foundation gala.
Joe Torre is currently the Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball.
He spent 12 years as the New York Yankees manager from 1996-2007. He led the club to four World Series titles in 1996 and 1998-2000. Torre won American League Manager of the Year honors in 1996 and 1998.
Torre was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, receiving 100% of the vote from the Expansion Era Committee.
He was in attendance at his foundation’s annual Safe At Home Foundation Gala, held every year in New York City, back in December.
He spent 12 full seasons, finishing with a won-loss record of 1,173–767. He led the Yankees to the postseason in all twelve of seasons with the club, winning six American League pennants and four World Series. Torre was the second-longest tenure in club history: only Joe McCarthy (1931-1946) lasted longer.
“They’re all magical,” Torre said when asked about all the great Yankees teams he managed during his tenure in the Bronx. “Getting an opportunity to manage the Yankees, I played for three teams, managed by three teams, fired by all three, and then all of a sudden the Yankees come calling and the opportunity to manage a very special group of players who never got tired of winning.
https://vimeo.com/387599208
The 1998 Yankees are highly regarded as one of the greatest teams in MLB history. They won 125 games (including the postseason), losing just 50 contests all season.
The Bronx Bombers from 1936-47 won seven World Series titles in a twelve-year span (1936, ’37, ’38, ’39, ’41, ’43, ’47).
“To me, it’s like the old Oakland A’s in the 70s, the Yankees back in the 40s and 50s … when you watch so many teams try to repeat, it’s not easy. When you win a World Series, everyone’s trying to put their Sundays best on to go get you.”
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