Does He Deserve One More Chance?

The Joe Torre Dynasty may be coming to a close today and the question people are asking is does he deserve one more chance to bring a championship back to the Bronx? Let’s look at the history.

Torre may have done himself in by spoiling Yankee fans so early. They won 4 titles in his first 5 seasons as manager and then made it to the World Series 2 of the 3 seasons after that. That first half had people delirious and it seemed like the good time would never end.

Torre may have set expectations that are too unrealistic, but it is understandable for George Steinbrenner and the fans to expect the same. They keep supporting the Yankees with record attendance despite high ticket prices so what they want in return is the absolute best. In the last 4 years of the JTD, they have not performed as well. They are still the Yankees at their core and are one of the best teams in baseball, but the fans are no longer concerned about being very good. They want excellence and that can be one of the hardest things to deliver because excellence is the norm so when you do it, it is expected and when you don’t it is a catastrophe. Every year that the fans don’t get a title it becomes worse because it seems to draw a greater contrast to what was or what could be.

Until very recently I would have said that Torre should go. The players need a new style, something that can motivate them and feel like winners again. But after reading about how much the Yankees tried to rally around Torre there is something there that is worth a 13th year. Steinbrenner has tried to sell out for titles before and it ended up being a catastrophe. Perhaps in this case giving Torre one more chance will bring a 2008 championship (last year in the old stadium would be a nice way to go out) without sacrificing the last remaining bits of integrity the Yankees have. So personally, I hope Torre is given one more chance.

That said, I expect Joe Torre to be fired by the weekend.