First to Third: Re-evaluating "The Yankee Years"

I finished Joe Torre's book last night, The Yankee Years. First off, it's a must read for any fan of the Bronx Bombers during the Torre era and is a very well written book. Torre is honest, forthcoming, and exactly what I imagined him to be. Second, after reading it, I can't figure out why there was so much controversy over the book.

I read about "A-Fraud," which was mentioned at most two times. I saw the line about Bernie Williams forgetting his kid at Yankee Stadium. I laughed when Torre described Kevin Brown sobbing after a poor outing and I rolled my eyes when I learned that Johnny Damon actually quit baseball for three days. At the end of it all, I think that the media has blown the entire book out of proportion by taking one or two two quotes out of a 500 page book and analyzing their merits.

On January 26th, I suggested in these pages that it was a "classless" act to write and publish this book. While I may not agree with the publication of all of the tiny (and sometimes private) details, Torre's sincerity and honesty are refreshing and fascinating to any Yankee or baseball fan. Maybe I wish he had written it after he retired, but I enjoyed reading about my beloved Torre-led Yankees.

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