Haterade

From the NY Daily News:

“A lot of great Yankees were not mentioned,” Yankee spokesman Howard Rubenstein said of Clemens and Torre. “There was no slight intended and perhaps both of them should have been mentioned during the celebration.”

That’s Rubenstein talking about the notable absence of Joe Torre (and Roger Clemens) from Sunday night’s festivities. There’s clearly some bad blood between the two parties. Are the Yankees just being petty Joe Torre “haters”, if you will? You have to wonder how much of this can actually be placed upon the Yankees. Maybe it was Joe Torre who did not want to participate? Eh, that’s probably not the case. I’m sure the Yankees would have mentioned that, if it were true (if only to make themselves look better). Sometimes, you just have to make due with what you’ve got and the Yankees did that on Sunday.

To be honest, I thought of Torre, briefly, during the pre-game ceremony. However, beyond that, I didn’t really dwell on his absence, although it was noticeable. We can all dream about a live video message, but truthfully, how realistic is that? I mean, the organization couldn’t really address him or thank him properly, not when he’s on the other side of the country managing another baseball team. It’s no one’s fault, really. Instead, it’s just the reality of the situation. Torre will get his congratulatory moment, one day, but showing an image of him on the video screen wouldn’t have done his legacy justice anyway (even though, I agree, that they probably should have done it, just to acknowledge the man). We might as well wait for the real deal, which is Joe Torre in the flesh. Only then will we truly be satisfied.