George Steinbrenner wasn't standing behind Joe Torre when the new manager of the New York Yankees was introduced. There is every chance he will be when the season starts.
The hands-on owner stayed away from Thursday's news conference, and Torre said he's not worried about interference from the often-meddlesome owner."If I concern myself with what-ifs and how I'm going to handle it, then I shouldn't be here," Torre said at Yankee Stadium after his two-year, $1.05 million deal was announced.
Bob Watson, the team's new general manager, said the deal was agreed to Wednesday night in Tampa, Fla., during a meeting that included himself, Torre, Steinbrenner, former manager Gene Michael and Brian Cashman, the team's new assistant general manager.
"Bob and I are going to decide the baseball side of this operation," Torre said. "Until I see otherwise, I have no reason to think otherwise. I worked for Ted Turner and Anheuser-Busch, people who are used to winning and are very impatient when they don't win, and I can understand that. I get a little impatient myself."
Neither Turner's Braves nor the Busch's Cardinals have seen the kind of turnover that takes place at Yankee Stadium. Thursday's shift was the 20th change in managers since Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973.
Torre, a Brooklyn-born fan of the New York Giants, succeeds Buck Showalter, who balked at Steinbrenner's attempt to force out some of his coaches.
The team announced Showalter's resignation last Thursday, but he said he was willing to continue negotiations. He was offered a $1.05 million, two-year deal.
Showalter, popular with many Yankees players and fans, has been manager since October 1991 and served the longest continuous term of any manager under Steinbrenner.
Showalter already has interviews scheduled with the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.