The Yankee Years by Joe Torre, Tom Verducci Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Yankee Years
Book Review: Disappointment Confirmed
Summary: 3 Stars
The Yankee Years
I knew the book would be well written as Tom Verducci is an excellent writer. I wanted to read the book before making a final opinion about Joe Torre. I still like him but I'm disappointed in him. He broke his own clubhouse rule. He was unfair to the whole team with his attempt to make the reader feel sorry for him because the Yankees 'only' offered him 5 million dollars. He will be in the Hall of Fame because of the Yankees. He was lucky to have been hired when he was. There are several managers who could have won with that late 90's team. I will give him credit for his work in bringing a playoff spot every year after the team started coming apart. Face it Joe, the Yankees and the 'Boss' were just as, if not more , good to you than you were to them. You're a good guy but also someone who used this tell all book at the expense of friends to make a buck.
Book Review: Don't let the door hit the knife in your back on your way out, Joe
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Entertaining but Disconcerting
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a very quick and entertaining read, particularly for Yankee fans who followed the great teams of the Torre era. The book is written by Sports Illustrated reporter Verducci, not Torre -- though Verducci has access to extensive interviews with Torre. As a result, some of the sources for the book are third persons, sometimes even anonymous ones. Press reports that Torre was ripping A-Rod and others are not quite true. Third persons, not Torre, called A-Rod "A-Fraud." Torre was concerned about perceptions of A-Rod and his concern about A-Rod's fear of failure as undermining his performance is something he told A-Rod directly. One surprise to me is that Damon essentially lost interest in baseball at the beginning of 2007 and almost walked away from the game. He ended up playing catch-up the rest of the season.
Given the extraordinary performance of both Sheffield and Giambi as clutch hitters, I was a bit surprised to hear criticism of those two. Yes, it was stupid for the Yanks to go after Sheffield instead of the younger Guerrero. But I was surprised that Torre was never a fan of the Giambi deal -- the guy was a terrific hitter and clubhouse presence. He is criticized, somewhat unfairly, for telling management that he was too lame to play defense in the 2003 World Series. Yet, this is precisely the kind of honesty Torre wanted from his players. Still, Torre emphasized defense and reliability, which I suppose was his root problem with Giambi.
The real problem of the Yankees from 2004 to 2007 was not Giambi or Sheffield or A-Rod, but their pitching. Their offense was terrific in this period. But all great offenses are prone to being shut down against post-season pitching, and the Yankees lacked the top starters necessary to match up with the pitching of the Red Sox, Angels, Tigers, and Indians in these years. The book makes a very good case that the Yankees went after the wrong pitchers in this period -- Vazquez, Pavano, Contreras, Brown, Johnson, Wright. Vazquez may not belong on this list, but he certainly was not the number 1 or number 2 pitcher the Yanks were looking for.
One of the problems, however, was what was the alternative? As Verducci points out, the rest of the league was on to the Yanks. They were signing their young pitchers to long term deals to keep them away from the Yankees. Still, the Yanks just plain blew the opportunity to get Schilling and should have held on to Pettite and Lilly. This would have made a huge difference and may have produced another championship during the end of the Torre era.
My criticism of the book is threefold. First, it is poorly organized and repetitive. Second, the criticism of Cashman is unfair. Yes, he blew the pitching moves. But he was a big supporter of Torre and put his neck out for him to help save his job. Only when the franchise was irretrievably committed in another direction does Cashman back away from Torre. I think Torre should have seen Cashman's conduct as simple business as opposed to a personal betrayal. Third, and most importantly, if Torre's management is based on trust, doesn't he breach it by doing a tell-all book so soon after his departure? Revealing locker room secrets is a betrayal of trust. I could see writing this book several years after the fact, but writing it now was unfair to A-Rod, Giambi, Damon, Sheffield, Cashman, and some of the others who do not come off well in this book. As an admirer of Torre, this lapse in judgment is very disconcerting.
Book Review: Ex-Yankee Fan Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Well written description of what went on in Yankee land and professional baseball in the last twelve years. In my opinion, Joe Torre is one of the classiest and competent baseball managers of all time. The treatment he received from the Yankee organization and the way they handled the whole A-Rod business is why I am no longer a devout Yankee fan. The book takes you behind the scenes and gives insight into some of the big name players of that era. Baseball has gone from "America's Pastime" to a giant, uncontrolled, greedy business.Book Review: Excellent Read
Summary: 5 Stars
Deals with many layers of baseball, some old and some new. In any event, much broader and interesting than the title suggests. At the end, I am left with the feeling that it is the tone and example set by the team's ownership that allow championship teams to flourish. Individual superstars do not guarantee championship teams, it is the collective strength of all the members of each team that contribute to their glory. I'd put this book in the category of Michael Lewis' Moneyball and The Blind Side for its revelations about topics that most of the fans are seldom exposed to. I highly recommend this book to any sports fan, baseball or otherwise!