A classy reunion

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1078176

A classy reunion
Boundaries gone as Tito greets Torre
By Jeff Horrigan
Thursday, March 6, 2008

FORT MYERS - Terry Francona is looking forward to greeting Joe Torre behind the batting cage at City of Palms Park today and putting his arm around his longtime friend.

The best part about it for the Red Sox [team stats] manager is that he can do it without causing a major controversy in the Northeast. There will be no talk-radio phone lines melting because of the volume of angry callers complaining about consorting with the enemy, no stories making far too much of the gesture, and no taunts from the stands.

With Torre safely removed from the hyper-intensity of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, Francona said he can embrace the new Los Angeles Dodgers manager and publicly demonstrate just how much he admires him. Francona also will express his empathy for the nonsense Torre was forced to endure throughout his humiliating departure from New York after 12 successful seasons.

“Joe and I actually talked about this, and it just gets so out of whack, the whole (Boston-New York) thing,” Francona said. “I like Joe so much. I’m glad he’s in the National League. I feel I can go put my arm around him (today) and nobody’s going to start yelling.”

Francona has known and admired Torre since he was 8 years old. Back then, his father, Tito, was a teammate of Torre’s with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“My dad said he was kind of a player’s player, and that was good enough for me,” Francona said.

The relationship strengthened during Francona’s playing days and underwent a transformation when he was named Sox manager after the 2003 season. During the next four years, the two found a sympathetic ear in each other as the rivalry heightened to all-consuming levels, particularly among the clubs’ impassioned fans.

“I never went out to the batting cage because I didn’t want to put him in that position,” Francona explained. “People don’t want to see that.”

The on-field memories they shared, however, are unforgettable.

“I don’t think anything affects (Torre),” Francona said. “There are so many good players, and the games end up being so interesting, for the most part, that stuff that happens before and after doesn’t matter.

“The games are so good. That game in 2004 when (Derek) Jeter went (diving) into the stands, it’s hard to find games that good. We could have won, but it’s hard to find games better than that. Then the game at our place (in 2004) and the Bill Mueller walkoff (homer), that’s pretty good baseball.”

Francona said it was difficult to watch from a distance last year as the Yankees pushed Torre away, despite four World Series titles and postseason appearances in each of his 12 years. George Steinbrenner said on Oct. 6 that Torre would not be rehired if the team didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs, but after the Yankees fell to Cleveland in the AL Division Series, the Boss still made a transparent effort to sign the manager to a one-year contract at a massive pay cut.

Torre, demonstrating that dignity means far more to him than a paycheck, walked away on Oct. 18 and was scooped up by the Dodgers shortly thereafter.

“I just want him to be happy,” Francona said. “I thought of what he’s done for the game, and I felt bad he was living through it and everything was so out there. I felt really bad.”

Francona, 48, emulates Torre in many of the ways he runs his team. However, the Sox skipper said he likely will not be managing when he reaches Torre’s age (67).

“The thing I worry about is losing energy,” Francona said. “I don’t know how well you can do this job without energy and how you feel health-wise because this job wears on you.”