The book The Yankee Years was written by Joe Torre and Tom Verduci. The only thing the title does not tell you is that it is written by Tom Verduci, with sporadic quotes here and there by Joe Torre. So, when you go to read this book don’t expect to see Joe’s own writing, because you won’t find it. With that said, now I will discuss what I thought of the book, both positive and negative. The first main idea of the book that kept my interest throughout was the discussion of each player’s character, on and off the field. For example, Joe says that everyone thinks Derek Jeter is such a nice, quiet and calm guy, however that is just how he acts around the media. In the clubhouse or during practice when no one is around he is much louder and he can really get on his teammates if he doesn’t like the effort they are giving. That is one thing I never thought of, Derek is a smart guy and he realizes that the media does not have to know everything about him and he has the power to make up whatever he wants. Another entertaining part of the book, that shocked me to be in there was how much respect Joe Torre has for Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. While I was reading the chapter about Theo, I really wondered how it related to “The Yankee Years” but it actually does. Tom Verduci says how Torre always was fascinated about how Epstein ran the Boston Red Sox. The things he liked the most were how they were able to balance a strong farm system and still have superstar players on their major league team. This is something that every MLB team is trying to do and Joe felt that the Red Sox, his arch rival, did it best. The final positive part of the book that really stood out to me was how vividly each Yankee moment was described. As a young child in 2001 I remember seeing Luis Gonzalez hit the game winning single up the middle to beat the Yankees in the World Series. That moment was so greatly described that it really brought me back to 2001. Even though the Yankees lost, it is still a great baseball memory that I will always have. On the other hand, there were also multiple points made in the book that were out of line and extremely unnecessary. The first main one that really hit me was the entire Alex Rodriguez chapter. I heard before I read the book that A-ROD was really hit hard but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. For example, I will paraphrase a key point made by Joe Torre. Joe said that every year he invites players to his big Safe at Home Foundation dinner where he raises money for abused children, he stated that he only invites players who live in New York because he doesn’t want other players to feel obligated to come. When the dinner was soon coming up, A-ROD came over to him and said he would like to come, Joe said, your wife is pregnant and you should stay with her, Alex responded by saying he would still like to go. Then the day before the dinner, A-ROD called up Torre and said he can no longer attend, Joe cordially said okay, but in his mind he was extremely upset. The chapter ends when Torre says, “I wouldn’t expect anything else from a guy like Alex Rodriguez.” I understand that Joe and Alex did not get along but that was an extremely harsh part of the book. Things like that should have never been repeated to others, but to sell books and make money people will do a lot of things. All in all, The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verduci is a must read for any Yankee fan, not just because of the he said, she said part of it because it does a great job of summarizing the team’s history. My only advice is that if you are not a Yankee fan do not bother reading it because it will just seem like a bunch of gossip.
Daniel Weberman
NYchalktalk.com
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