“It’s sort of like a Broadway play, the actors should know how to act, dance, sing, do comedy. The director shouldn’t have to teach them that.”

Wow, I think you’ve just revolutionized show business. Wait till the suits in Hollywood hear about this. Although I don’t think the Director’s Guild will be too happy about this.

I’ve always felt that Torre’s strength is in managing the clubhouse, the NY media, and Steinbrenner. With the talent on the team, things like batting order are less important. It’s sort of like a Broadway play, the actors should know how to act, dance, sing, do comedy. The director shouldn’t have to teach them that.

I agree. Anyway, who is the smartest baseball manager in the world? And does it really matter in the grand scheme? Not really. Torre makes decisions you or I may or may not agree with on a daily basis. Everytime we disagree, someone else agrees, so our disagreement is meaningless. Sometimes when we disagree, his way works. Sometimes when we agree, his way doesn’t work. It doesn’t particularly matter. When all is said and done, Torre’s great.

Steve, great post. Let’s not forget that Joe manages very much from his gut, and it helped the Yankees win 4 world championships. Sometimes the gut is also wrong as many who have played blackjack know when they stray from basic strategy. A lot of posters have bashed Joe this year, here’s to the hope they have the class to admit they were wrong like you did, in the end the results speak for themselves. I think Joe did very well in spite of all the injuries and bad luck the Yankees had this year. I hope his gut serves him well during the post-season.

Too many baseball fans get hung up on the in-game managerial strategies yet forget a big part of any manager’s job is managing 25+ people living/working together for 8 months a year.

We fans tend to overreact to inning by inning or game by game events.

How many were on cloud nine after Mussina’s first start off of the DL then wanted him released after his most recent?

Steve, you’re a fair man. Too many have done nothing but bash Joe and won’t give it a second thought. Class post.