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*sigh* I am always tempted, when confronted with those who think anyone could have won with the 1996-2002 Yankees (it is sometimes said of Casey Stengel's Yankees, too), to ask in retaliation whether such people think they could have won with them. I'm not always irrevocable captivated by some of Torre's field moves, of course (I would never have pulled the infield in with the winning run on base in the last inning of the last World Series game - left at proper depth, Luis Gonzalez's liner goes into Derek Jeter's glove and the Arizona Diamondbacks go wait 'till next year), but I am also aware enough that not just anyone could manage the 1995-2002 Yankees. (You think LaRussa could? Bobby Valentine? Lou Piniella? Bobby Cox? Remember - Piniella and Cox have managed different teams with different styles of play, and it does not denigrate their excellence as managers to say their styles might not be the right ones for these Yankees.)

But I think a lot of why the sports media is so enthralled with Torre is that, unlike a lot of his managerial contemporaries, Torre is never rude or snooty when questioned even on the most testy circumstances. He was that way when he managed the Mets two decades ago, and he had way more reasons to be testy then (the 1979-81 Mets were enough to drive a man to drink; not even gentle giant Frank Howard could handle that misfit mob), he was that way when he took the Braves to a surprise division title in 1982, he was that way when he found himself managing the in-transition, uncohesive Cardinals of the immediate post-Herzog era. And without acquitting the entire sports press (there are as least as many assoholic sportswriters as there are news reporters), sportswriters are human enough that, considering a lot of the abuse they put up with from too many sports people, someone who at least treats the human ones like humans in return is bound to get a lot of extra credit.

I wouldn't exactly lay that as a liability on Joe Torre. Unless, of course, you'd rather have the overrated and oversotted Billy Martin risen from the dead to manage the Yankees again...