Joe Torre quotes:

+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
  • As a supporter of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and their Home Run Challenge program, I am extremely grateful for the valuable partnerships and relationships built with Major League Baseball and our affiliates.

  • I've enjoyed my time in the American League, the fans of Southern California and other friendships.

  • Million Dollar Arm' touches on many of the Safe At Home Foundation's core values, such as children, teamwork and family.

  • I met Tiger Woods, and I looked in his eyes - and I saw Derek Jeter. They don't have to tell people they're good. They just prove it by the way they love the competition.

  • When I became the manager of the New York Yankees, it was an opportunity to realize my lifelong dream of winning the World Series. We were fortunate enough to succeed in our first season in 1996, and in the years that followed, we wrote some great new chapters in Yankee history.

  • Major league baseball is about the history of the game. Baseball history is so important. It's so much more than money.

  • Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It's about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result.

  • Every place where I played or managed is special to me because of the memories and the friendships that each afforded me.

  • Stress is something that is sort of out of your control. You get stressed out over looking at the finish line. Stress is something that is an outside thing. Stress is an anxiety.

  • If a club is winning, you never pay attention to a guy who's 0-for-10. If a club is losing, all of a sudden you'll find that he's the main reason why you're losing, which is absurd for me.

  • When we lost, I couldn't sleep at night. When we win, I can't sleep at night. But, when you win, you wake up feeling better.

  • When I was coming home from school as a youngster, and I saw my dad's car in the driveway, I would go to a friend's house. I connected my dad being there with fear.

  • My father wasn't the best role model to me.

  • When I was 16 years old, my brother Frank said, 'You'd better become a catcher, because you're too big and fat to do anything else.' Well, I took his advice. It was a quick way to get to the big leagues, and I've never regretted it.

  • Baseball has changed dramatically since I began my tenure with the Yankees.

  • I was always a little hesitant to accuse people of loading a bat to hit a ball farther. I was always very hesitant to approach people because I never had any evidence that I had firsthand knowledge of.

  • Respect is the word I want. You have to earn it. You give, and you get it in return, that's how I see it.

  • You know, Mike Milken, the money that he has raised for cancer research has been remarkable.

  • It's huge. You win the first game of the series, you want to win the series.

  • I don't have a great deal of stress job-wise in my life, and that feels good.

  • My relationship with George Steinbrenner was great. He was the boss, and I accepted that.

  • I think that winning creates chemistry, as opposed to other way around. I've been on a lot of friendly teams that couldn't win, trust me.

  • As a member of a competitive team, you want to make sure you have yourself ready to play. You don't control anything but what you do.

  • In regards to steroids, I think we're all to blame, all of baseball. I never realized how far-reaching this problem has been.

  • People are proud of their players.

  • Baseball has always been filled with negative statistics.

  • When you've been in the game as long as I have, you know the managers you've played for, the good ones and the bad ones. Even the good ones get fired.

  • There's nothing that can replace the feeling of winning.

  • By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief.

  • You hear the word 'cancer,' it scares you. You think of death.

  • Baseball, while you're doing it, you think it's going to last forever.

  • If you do the best you can, you never have to look back.

  • It's nice to have writers write nice things about you and guys on radio and TV say nice things about you, but the guy who's in the locker next to you is the one you play the game for.

  • There is no worse emotion than fear.

  • One thing you have to realize is that cancer is not something you necessarily cure, but you want to just take care of yourself and extend your life as long as you can.

  • I never concerned myself with other people's decisions.

  • That's the sign of a good relationship, when you can pick up a phone and it doesn't matter when the last time you spoke was.

  • Baseball is a team sport played by individuals for themselves.

  • Whatever sport you're looking at, it's usually the team that makes the least mistakes that has the most success.

  • We all have different ways to do things.

  • Unless you have bad times, you can't appreciate the good times.

  • If all of us who love baseball and are doing our jobs, then those who get the game from us will be as proud to be a part of it as we were. And we are. This game is a gift, and I am humbled, very humbled, to accept its greatest honor.

  • When we lost I couldn't sleep at night. When we win I can't sleep at night. But when you win, you wake up feeling better

  • Watching other teams in the World Series is like watching somebody else eat a Hot Fudge Sundae.

  • Spring Training is a fun time for me.

  • We can learn from past failures and mistakes, but we shouldn't get stuck there. We can keep future goals in mind, but we shouldn't get stuck there, either. The only way to reach our potential is to focus on what we must do now - this moment, this day - to perform effectively and win.

  • I have great confidence in Rick Caruso's unique qualifications and his ability to lead a successful bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

  • You can't win the Kentucky Derby unless you're on a thoroughbred.

  • You don't catch the knuckleball, you defend against it.

  • My greatest talent is calmness and being positive. I concentrate on what you can do even in the worst of times. You don't judge by last week's errors or lost opportunity.

  • I believe anybody who is not afraid to fail is a winner.

  • I can understand the fact you don't want the ball slipping out of a pitcher's hand because someone can get hurt.

  • Umpires sometimes have a quick trigger.

  • First of all, you want umpires to call what they see. In the case of fair or foul, the smartest thing is to call the ball fair. Because if it's called foul and ruled fair, where do we put the runners?

  • I am deeply saddened and shocked at the loss of umpire Wally Bell.

  • St. Louis has always been special to me.

  • There will be a time when everyone on the team is going to contribute to winning a pennant.

  • Even though I was never a Yankee fan until I put on the uniform, when you think about the deep history of this organization, you always knew what the Yankees represented.

  • I don't think there's any player that's more talented than Alex Rodriguez. He cares very deeply about doing well. Baseball is his life. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.

  • I think there's more of opportunity to win games in the National League than the American League because there are more decisions to make.

  • When you're in a slump, you do something different, just to try it. I remember one time I was in a slump, and I borrowed one of Henry Aaron's bats and hit two homers. I used my own bats the next night. I just needed a change.

  • I feel very fortunate to have broken in with the Milwaukee Braves organization.

  • Every time I pull somebody out of the bullpen, I believe he can do the job. I have to believe it. If he doesn't, hopefully he will do it the next time.

  • Scott Boras, I've known for a long time. We were both in the Cardinals organization. I'm a lot older than Scott. He's a very tough man, very tough agent.

  • I have no problem with cheating. Whatever you can get away with.

  • Jerry Coleman was the kind of player who made me proud to wear the pinstripes.

  • I know in the heat of battle, it's hard not to get angry, especially in the 19th inning.

  • We've got to decide, how much replay do we want? Because if you start doing it from the first inning to the ninth inning, you may have to time the game with a calendar.

  • I won't be managing the Mets. I am closing the door on managing the Mets and probably everybody else.

  • After you manage the Yankees for 12 years, it's really tough to envision going somewhere else. But then the Dodgers called.

  • I hated the Yankees and Dodgers and wound up managing both.

  • Getting fired is what happens to a manager sooner or later.

  • Golf is the only game I know where you call a foul on yourself.

  • Pitchers make adjustments, and it's up to the hitters to readjust and sort of tweak what they do.

  • You get to the big leagues, and you think, 'Can I do this stuff?' Then you take the first pitch down the middle for Strike 1, and you think, 'I could have hit that.'

  • Sometimes they say the world rotates a little different for lefthanders.

  • It's not easy to just say you don't want to do something any more.

  • Home-plate collisions are something you cannot ignore.

  • The second you think you've arrived, someone passes you. You have to always be in pursuit.

  • Baseball is a game of life. It's not perfect, but it feels like it is,

  • Don't be afraid to fail, encourage your talent, and use your heart. And never be unprepared

  • A winner is somebody who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished.

  • I have one goal with all my decision: to do whatever is needed to win today's game. I'm loyal to my players, and I stick with people because consistency builds confidence. But if I feel I have to make a change in order to win, I'll do it. I don't ask players to like my decisions, only to accept that I'm doing my job with one thing in mind - winning.

  • I do love the feeling of a big win. But you don't have to have a World Series ring to be a winner. A winner is somebody who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished. Being able to get the most from their ability. That's what characterizes a winner.

  • You look at a guy who's being brave. He's afraid, or he wouldn't be brave. If he isn't afraid, he's stupid.

  • Obviously generating revenue is what this is all about anymore, which is sad, but again, you have to find ways to make it work. But, yeah, that's certainly intriguing.

  • ...in my book success and winning are not always the same thing. To me, success is playing - or working - to the best of your ability.

  • When I was a player and hit into a double play, I felt as if I was letting everyone down.

  • Tommy (Lasorda) will eat anything, as long as you pay for it.

  • You have to fix something when it first appears.

  • When you take a job, you don't just accept the pats on the back. You have to accept the kicks in the pants.

  • I'm a very private person, and I don't want to share stuff with anyone.

  • I knew what the Dodgers uniform represented as a kid growing up in Brooklyn.

  • I just don't like to dwell on stuff.

  • The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they're not satisfied with what you're doing.

  • Kids are much more intuitive these days. Not that I'm crazy about what's on TV, but they know so much these days.

  • It's my job that if somebody wants to have a discussion about something, I'm certainly sensitive to that, and I'm willing to do it.

  • Years ago, you never concerned yourself with pitch counts. Now, with statistics telling you that between this number and that number bad things happen to this particular pitcher, you have to pay attention to it. The bullpen has become a huge part of what happens now.

  • He [Nomar Garciaparra] could go 0-for-10 in rehab and it wouldn't mean anything.

  • Not that managing in the American League is easy, but this is certainly different. I'll have to have somebody poke me in the rear end when I have a pitcher that's going to hit.

  • In baseball, you're always moving people around.

  • It just feels good to beat the world champs to be the world champs.

  • You could have the bases loaded, and you bring up the best pinch-hitter in the world to pinch hit, he hits into a double play, and then all of a sudden: 'How could you do that?'

  • My wife accuses me - and she's probably right - that I'm sometimes oversensitive.

  • It's all about makeup.

  • My 12 years in New York were very, very special, the fans were very special, and it's something I will take with me wherever I go and into retirement.

  • Winning is a lot of fun. I remember having a meeting a couple years ago and telling the guys: 'You're not enjoying yourselves.' O'Neill said to me afterwards, 'Skip, it's not fun unless you win.'

  • A lot of pitchers today are afraid of the ball. Warren Spahn pinch-hit for me when I was a rookie. He hit a sacrifice fly. I couldn't argue. I was 20 years old and just happy to be in the big leagues. And Spahnnie was a good hitter.

  • I've seen that picture before. It was a two-seamer that didn't sink until it hit the upper deck somewhere.

  • I feel emptiness, and he probably won't be able to close his eyes for two or three days.

  • Million Dollar Arm touches on many of the Safe At Home Foundations core values, such as children, teamwork and family.

  • I wish I could paint that picture. As a 20-year-old kid, that was a big thrill.

  • Boomer is ... Boomer. That pretty much tells you all you need to know

  • The game itself is an autonomous game, but everybody is a part of it. No contribution is too small.

  • One winter, when I was 12, my older brother Frank (20) said to my father, 'We want you out of the house. We don't want anything other than the house we live in. We don't want anything from you. Just leave.' And he left.

  • When I was a teenager and my brother Frank was in the World Series in '57 and '58 against the Yankees, Braves winning in '57 and the Yankees in '58, little did I know the next time these two teams would meet in the World Series, I would be managing the Yankees.

  • When you sign on to do a job, you hope you'll be able to get it done. But that's not always in your control.

  • If I intimidate people, that's not my intention.

  • As a player, to me the Dodgers were the Yankees of the National League because you either loved them or you hated them.

  • It's nice to be in first place. But just because you're not on a winner doesn't mean you're a loser.

+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share