Hank Steinbrenner: Little Stein, Big...

JR, I'm not seeking out confrontation here, as so many seem to do. But I respectfully disagree. Those Yankee teams would have been in 12 postseasons with or without Torre. Over 162 games, the cream indeed rises. Would they have won four title? Who knows. Bobby Cox is a damn good manager, but somehow luck seemed to bounce against him in October.

Postseason baseball can be a crapshoot at best. Torre's talent, you must admit, made it quite a bit easier for him. But that's just me, preaching from hypotheticalville.

 

You have to be good to be lucky.

Torre has the results. Cox doesn't.

You can rationalize it all you want but to say that the Yankee teams would have all made the postseason without Torre is unprovable.

 

As is saying they wouldn't have. But I think most would agree they would have. They were unchallenged most years.

 

Torre did a great job to get them to the playoffs this year.

 

I think we're straying from the issue which isn't Joe's managerial expertise but Hank's classless response to Torre's comments.

The apple doesn't fall far.

Just out of curiosity, what was Hank doing before daddy gave him a ball club to play with?

 

Playing with daddy's horses:


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/sports/baseball/23chass.html?ref=sports



Hank, 50, first became involved in the Yankees’ front office in spring training of 1986. He was supposed to learn the operation and be a part of it, but one season was more than enough for him. He retreated to the family horse farm in Ocala, Fla., where he enjoyed the relationship with horses more than he did with players.

During that season, Hank, the No. 1 son, told interviewers that he was the No. 2 man in the organization. But when his father was asked about that claim, he said, “What I think he means is he’s No. 2 at home at the dinner table.”

Yet only four years later, the suspended Steinbrenner wanted Hank to replace him as the team’s managing partner. Hank, however, declined the appointment, again choosing horses over baseball.

 

Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode.....