Baseball Insider: Torre’s Coaches Go Deep – in Experience

By Nick Peters, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Mar. 26–If New York Yankees manager Joe Torre ever felt threatened about job security, he has 1,648 reasons to be concerned. That’s the total number of major-league games managed by a revamped coaching staff of Larry Bowa (third base), Tony Pena (first base), Lee Mazzilli (bench) and Joe Kerrigan (bullpen). Torre, who has managed 3,513 games, told the Newark Star-Ledger, “Hopefully they’re smarter than if they weren’t managers. To me, that’s never bothered me. You hire people, you rely on them. “If I got fired tomorrow and one of them got my job, that doesn’t mean that’s the reason they came here. If that is the reason, then I don’t even want to know about it.” Bowa, a Sacramento native who previously managed in San Diego and Philadelphia, told the same newspaper: “When you’re the best manager in baseball and have the success that Joe has had, that would be the last of his concerns. “He doesn’t show any indication that it bothers him at all. We’re all here for one thing – to try to get to the World Series.” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman agreed, adding: “I think Joe’s comfortable because he knows we’re comfortable. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder because he knows this is about putting our players in the best position to succeed. No one’s looking to replace Joe Torre.” Junior’s jubilant The World Baseball Classic has had its share of critics in the United States, but Ken Griffey Jr. isn’t among them. As soon as the Team USA standout rejoined the Cincinnati Reds last week, he spoke glowingly about the international tournament, won by Japan. Asked by the Cincinnati Enquirer what he liked best about the WBC, Griffey replied: “Probably just doing something different. Representing your country, more than anything. You’re not just representing the people of Cincinnati – you’re representing everybody.”

Although Team USA was eliminated before the semifinals, Griffey was a solid performer. He batted .524 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in six games, including seven RBIs and two homers among four hits against South Africa at Scottsdale Stadium. “It was different,” Griffey said. “You got to see all the flags and people yelling. The language barrier was a little tough. But, for the most part, everybody understood one thing – baseball.” Rickey on Reyes Jose Reyes of the New York Mets led the National League with 60 stolen bases last season, and there could be an improvement this year with special instructor Rickey Henderson in camp to provide expertise on stealing bases and batting leadoff. “He knows what I need to do to get better – I have to listen to him,” Reyes told the Star-Ledger after returning from the WBC last week and hooking up with the majors’ all-time stolen base king. After watching video of his star pupil, Henderson said Reyes needs some work on technique and concluded: “I can get him to steal more than 60. The biggest thing is does he want to steal more than 60? He can steal 60 on his own. “Sometimes we have fear and we’re afraid to get thrown out on the basepaths.

“You get thrown out, and you get fear, and you’re not comfortable. Don’t give a damn. You should never worry about getting thrown out.” Red Sox breakup The Boston Red Sox are still breaking up their 2004 championship team. The latest to go is pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who last week was traded to Cincinnati for slugging outfielder Wily Mo Pena. “It was disappointing,” Arroyo told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I love being a baseball player. I love the city. I loved being a Red Sox. But it’s a business. They do what they do to benefit the team.” Arroyo, 29, signed a three-year, $11.25 million contract in January. He thought he was a lock for their 2005 rotation. So, when GM Theo Epstein broke the news in Florida, the trade caught Arroyo by surprise. “It was a bit of a shock,” he said. “I knew it was a possibility. I’m a young guy who’s been healthy, and I’m relatively cheap compared to some of the other starters over in Boston. They didn’t guarantee me anything. “But the vibe I got from them and what they told me was they weren’t going to trade me in the near future, which could have been relative to whatever you think the near future is. I thought it came pretty quick.” When Arroyo, a musician, walked into the Reds’ clubhouse for the first time, new teammate Kent Mercker cracked: “Our karaoke team just got better.” What sophomore jinx? N.L. Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies is enjoying a sensational spring. He has a majors-leading 10 home runs, topping what is believed to be the previous club-record nine by Dick Allen in 1964. What’s scary is Howard insists he’s not right yet, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer: “I’m just trying to feel comfortable right now. I’m trying to get it back to where I feel comfortable hitting the ball where it’s pitched. “I’ve obviously had good hits … but as far as feeling completely the way I want to feel, not really. It’s always good to be able to get big hits when you don’t feel comfortable because you’re not going to feel comfortable the entire season. I just feel a little off-balance right now.” Ichiro emotes In his first five years with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki didn’t show much emotion or talk much about it. But he guided relatively inexperienced Team Japan to the first WBC championship, it seems to be a more important part of his game. Upon rejoining the Mariners last week, Ichiro talked plenty about how emotion helped to carry Japan to the title, and about how it’s receding. He’s thankful the season doesn’t start for another week, telling the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “If the season started in two or three days, I’d be in trouble. I want that same kind of emotional level in the regular season. We were able to play in situations where there was a lot of pressure, and we wound up with the ability to win a lot. “I’d like to take that experience and bring it here. I learned again what it is to be happy together (as a team), so I want to do that with the Mariners.”

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