To the very bitter end, Joe Torre showed what he was about. The former proud Yankee skipper of the past 12 years who guided the club to four world championships, six pennants and 10 division titles handled himself with class at a press conference in Rye this past afternoon.

With many of the local media on hand peppering the 67 year-old who finished an outstanding 1,173-767 in 12 seasons in Pinstripes, he never once raised his voice in explaining why he turned down the Yankees’ one-year contract offer for $5 million which included incentive clauses depending on postseason performance reaching $8 million if the Yankees got to the World Series, guaranteeing a second year at that same raise.

The disappointment could be heard in his voice which remained calm and strong throughout the hour even cracking a few jokes to break the tension at a Westchester hotel.

“The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they’re not satisfied with what you’re doing,” Torre told the AP, noting the $2.5 million paycut in which Yankee Team President Randy Levine foolishly indicated a day prior that the manager who had accomplished so much during his reign needed ‘extra incentives’ to go far in October.

“There really was no negotiation involved. I was hoping there would be, but there wasn’t.”

When the Yankees led by the new face of the franchise Levine, who has caused nothing but dissension within the once solidified organization since becoming president in 2000 after the Yankees’ 26th world title over the Mets wouldn’t budge one bit, the proverbial writing was on the wall.

“If somebody wants you to do a job, if it takes them two weeks to figure out, yeah, we want to do this, should do this, yeah, you’re a little suspicious,” Torre pointed out about how long such a preposterous process much to do about nothing took. “If somebody wanted me to manage here, I would be managing here.”
The Yankees (LEVINE) wanted him back about as much as rookie setup man Joba Chamberlain wanted those little bugs which swarmed him in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS at Jacobs Field.

This wasn’t all about money but the level of commitment which was referred to several times as well as respect which was clearly lacking during Thursday’s meeting in Tampa when Torre told George Steinbrenner that he couldn’t accept the offer, shaking hands before walking out of the Yankee organization for good.

He had fired the Yankees which is exactly what the genius Levine had wanted. For it to look like they had tried to retain a man who was not just one of the franchise’s greatest managers but also one of its best statesmen. Who else could’ve handled all the different star personalities as well as he did?

To reach 12 consecutive postseasons, you’ve got to be doing something right. Even if you do have the personnel, it’s far from easy to keep it together for such a long period. Especially over 162 games. Just ask Joe’s former bench coach and current Mets’ skipper Willie Randolph.

Only one team from last October made it back this year. You guessed it. Torre’s Yankees who at one point were all but dead and buried in May eight games under .500 (21-29) 14.5 games behind Boston. Yet somehow the manager had kept it together never showing any panic in leading his ballclub to a 56-28 record the final three months to finish 94-68, which was good enough for the wildcard.

None of it mattered because they fell in the first round for the third straight year, losing in four to the Indians. It didn’t matter that the bugs had gotten to Chamberlain helping turn Game 2 and maybe changed a series destined for five games.

Torre’s guys just couldn’t deliver the big hits and it didn’t help much that ace Chien-Ming Wang was bombed by Cleveland for 12 runs in two starts including Game Four in which he was knocked out in the second as the Indians would wrap up the series at a stunned Stadium 6-4. Neither did the usually reliable Derek Jeter’s awful showing in which he was just 3-for-17 bouncing into a few double plays including a crusher to kill a rally in the sixth.

That was how the whole series went as Indian after Indian delivered in the clutch while the big Yankee bats including Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui went ice cold with runners in scoring position.
Cleveland pitched better as well getting a quality showing from Fausto Carmona and great middle relief from Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt. Plus Paul Byrd worked in and out of trouble in the final game to pickup the series clinching victory.

As it turned out, the Yanks lost to the better team. Payroll didn’t matter. Torre had indicated before the start of the series that in a short series, anything could happen. He couldn’t be proven more right as his 28-22 division series record would indicate all with the Yankees. He was a combined 48-28 in the championship series and World Series which included a stint with the Braves in 1982.

Not bad for a guy who came to New York with a losing record (894-1,003) and was immediately labeled “Clueless Joe” by a Daily News front page about taking the job after Buck Showalter to work for George Steinbrenner.

While managing the team to its first world title since 1978 and four in five years during an incredible span in which his team reeled off 14 straight World Series games, Torre also won AL Manager of The Year twice (1996, ’98) and was very active in the community with his Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation raising tons of money for troubled inner city youths.

Even in such tough defeats as the 2001 World Series against the Diamondbacks and the epic collapse against the eventual 2004 world champion Red Sox, Torre always stood tall representing baseball’s greatest franchise the proper way.

There can only be one winner every year. It has become increasingly difficult to win the required 11 games in October which might explain why there hasn’t been a repeat winner since Torre’s Yanks three-peated seven years ago in the Subway Series.

The level of competition has increased making even the highest payrolls no automatic locks to win at this time of year.

That the Yankee brass felt they needed to put together such a structured one-year contract for such a successful man who trails just Joe McCarthy (1,460) for most wins among Yankee managers told him that it was time to go.

“I expressed my dissatisfaction with the length of contract,” the affable New Yorker who grew up in Marine Park in Brooklyn calmly stated. “I explained that and the fact that the incentives, which to me I took as, you know, an insult. That we basically get to postseason and then all of a sudden we’re satisfied with where we’ve gotten to.”
No manager with Torre’s resume would give into such petty nonsense which is exactly what it was. Levine finally got his wish. He had been pushing Steinbrenner this way for some time.

Now, the Yankees get to do it Levine’s way. What manager is going to want to deal with this kind of chaos? Either make the ALCS or else. Think one of the most popular Yankees Don Mattingly is going to take a job with so much heavy scrutiny.

“I’d like to believe that with the new manager, a new legacy starts,” Torre said.
One of sports’ greatest jobs is now setup for Torre’s successor to fail. To be compared fairly or unfairly to a legacy set by one of the good guys involved with sports.

The Yanks did Torre a favor. He came out smelling like roses today. The stench can be smelled all the way from Tampa.

“I was very much at peace with my decision,” Torre later said.

Maybe next time, they won’t make the playoffs. Maybe then they’ll finally realize who they had a chance to keep. Instead, he was taken for granted.

A great run in New York sports ended because of Yankee stubbornness. What lies in their future nobody knows.

One legacy is complete with plenty to smile and reflect about. The other is just beginning with a huge question mark next to it. Which would you rather be?