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Dodgers: Five things to know
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Of course Joe Torre's uniform looked strange when he pulled it on for the first time Thursday, casting aside 12 years of pinstriped Yankees memories and turning the page to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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| Joe Torre draws plenty of attention at the Dodgers' spring camp. (AP) |
But the 67-year-old manager fooled 'em. He ditched the brace and looked healthy, energized and well-fitted (they quickly re-jiggered the pants) while becoming the Dodgers' first full-blown rock star manager since the Tommy Lasorda days.
Make no mistake. The Dodgers' first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers was all about Torre. Not that he finagled it that way. It's just that Dodgertown is to the Yankees camp in Tampa what Mayberry is to the Iron Curtain. And there was one guy the denizens wanted to see.
"It's anecdotal, but I think there are more people here this year than in the past," Jim the parking lot security guy was saying about 7:30 Friday morning.
A Dodgers official estimated later that the usual number of fans was on hand for what generally is a sleepy, early spring workout, but the landscape most decidedly was lopsided because most of them followed Torre to whichever field he went.
And unlike in Tampa, where fences separate the Yankee conglomerate from the peasants, there is little cover here. Torre twice stopped in the middle of the two-hour workout to sign autographs, once for a group of about 50 fans at 10:40 a.m. and once for a group of way more than 50 fans at 11:30.
"You know what's great is how personal this place is," Torre said. "That's impressive. That's impressive. It's a good feel."
Certainly, a more informal and welcoming feel than the staid and aloof setting of Camp Steinbrenner.
"The climate of the country over the last seven years has changed somewhat," Torre said. "There were a lot of things over there that they tried to protect against, being New York. L.A. is a huge city, too, but the way it was set up over there, guys could tend to their work.
"Over here, yeah, it can get distracting if guys stop to sign autographs. But it's more personal."
As Torre surveyed his new landscape, it was different in lots of other significant ways, too. No more is he in charge of a $190 million payroll -- which those who think his success was predicated only on the inheritance of a large fortune no doubt figure this will bring him crashing back to earth quickly.
Still, it isn't exactly like he's panhandling on a street corner begging for dough -- the Dodgers project a $115 million payroll in 2008.
In Torre's last season in New York, 11 players on his roster were making $10 million or more annually. Now, he has a mere three -- two if starter Jason Schmidt doesn't recover.
"There were a lot more veterans there," Torre said of New York, acknowledging that some of the Dodgers didn't seem to know what to make of him on Day 1 of the new era. "I'm sure when there's a new manager you say some things (and hold back on other things). I think in a few days they'll start loosening up and having some fun.
"They're all business right now, which is fine with me. But I think you can mix the business part and the fun part. Once guys get to know me, I think they'll loosen up."
Part of it no doubt is because Torre over the past 12 Octobers has had more television time than Katie Couric, and the Dodgers haven't. They've won one postseason game since 1988. So maybe the man stepping off of the television screen and onto their practice field will take some getting used to. Maybe, especially for some of the younger Dodgers here, there's an intimidation factor.
"I hope not," Torre said. "My wife accuses me of having that look. She says our daughter (11-year-old Andrea) has it, too.
"If I'm intimidating people, that's certainly not my intention."
Presence is probably a better word. Torre's value in New York was in the presence he commands, not necessarily in his in-game X's and O's. His calming influence at times was the Yankees' best armor. He excelled in deflecting controversy, be it rants from owner George Steinbrenner, tabloid headlines or clubhouse issues.
The full Dodgers squad isn't even here yet, but that presence nonetheless already is translating to Hollywood. It was telling Friday morning that two key Dodgers, All-Star catcher Russell Martin and lefty set-up man Joe Beimel, listed Torre as the most important offseason move the Dodgers made.
Not signing Andruw Jones, a center fielder who catches everything in sight and should strengthen a middle of the lineup that lacked power in 2007.
Not signing free agent Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who has the potential to help make the Dodgers rotation one of the game's best.
Torre.
"Everybody I've played with in the past who's played for him said he's the best manager they've ever had," Beimel said. "Right now, I'll take their word for it."
The landscape also is different from what Torre is accustomed to in another sense. Not only did the Dodgers miss the postseason again last summer, they embarrassed themselves while doing so. Second baseman Jeff Kent and outfielder Matt Kemp became embroiled in a public feud that pitted some of the veterans against the younger players.
"People I've inquired with, everybody seemed to think it was no big deal," Torre said. "You spend more time with your teammates than with your families. And you go into somebody's living room, you'll hear conversations that obviously are not all favorable.
"That doesn't mean you change relatives."
For a guy who figured he'd take some time off after the Yankees insulted him last October with a one-year offer with incentive clauses for winning -- as if the man who piloted one of the more impressive runs in club history was an entry-level guy -- Torre said he feels re-energized.
His new setting and sparkling new three-year, $13 million contract probably is better than any health-food diet.
And though it goes unsaid, no doubt some of it is rooted in a desire to show the Yankees what they're missing.
"The man has always been the best," said Edward Winkelman, 65, a life-long Yankees fan who completed a four-year quest during Friday's workout by scoring Torre's signature on an 8x10 photo alongside Rudy Giuliani's. "I was sorry to see him leave. He did so much for the Yankees."
Now the Dodgers will see what he can do for them, and nobody's wasting any time. Torre arrived at Dodgertown at 6 a.m. Friday, only to find the doors to the facility locked (he had to knock to get someone's attention to let him in). He had difficulty sleeping Thursday night.
"That's usually the case when you know you're going to address the guys for the first time," Torre said. "It will probably be the same thing next week (when the full squad reports).
"The first time you talk to the guys, it's not a rah-rah thing, but you want to send a message as to what they can expect from me."
"The gist of it was for us to really understand that this year will be about finding a way to root for the next guy, pull for the next guy, find a way to win," pitcher Derek Lowe said. "He can teach us how to win.
"We're smart enough to know that he has a lot of answers, and that he can help this organization win instead of competing and fading at the end."
The one coach who came over from the Yankees with Torre, Larry Bowa, has heard that speech while Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were listening, too.
Well, most of the speech.
"I think he expressed a few more things here because of the youthfulness," Bowa said. "I think he expressed a few more things here than he did with the Yankees.
"Like preparation. You have veterans who know how to prepare, but everybody doesn't. And knowing that if you get three hits and you lose, you shouldn't be happy. He said that. If you go 0-for-4 and win, be happy then. That 'I' shit don't get it done."
Bowa paused, and grinned.
"It was his 'A' stuff. When the rest of the team gets here next week, that'll be his 'A+' stuff."