ANAHEIM, Calif. — The river of love that flowed from the Yankees’ clubhouse to Joe Torre’s Dodger Stadium office didn’t carry Alex Rodriguez.
While Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter gushed about playing for Torre in The Bronx, Rodriguez was more than cool toward his former manager, who dropped him to eighth in the lineup during the 2006 ALDS and wasn’t painted in a good way in “The Yankee Years,” a book with Torre’s name on it.
“Business as usual,” Rodriguez said about facing Torre this weekend at Dodger Stadium. “I am not going to get into that.”
Rodriguez’s silence confused Torre.
“I didn’t think that at all, I really didn’t,” Torre said, asked last night if his relationship with Rodriguez was a bad one before the reeling Dodgers played the Angels at Angel Stadium. “I am sorry to hear that because I didn’t think I had a bad relationship with Alex at all.”
Torre said his contributions to the book were public knowledge before they were used. Torre did say that author Tom Verducci had his blessing to find out stories about the Yankees on his own.
“I don’t think I violated anything with Alex,” Torre said. “I am sorry if he feels that way.”
Torre doesn’t plan to ignore Rodriguez.
“Of course I will say hello to him,” Torre said.
Torre hasn’t spoken to many in the Yankees’ organization since he left in October 2007, when he didn’t accept a one-year offer for $5 million in base salary and a chance to add $3 million if he won the World Series. The Yankees offered him an option for a second year at $8 million. He wanted the second year to be non-guaranteed, but the Yankees didn’t go for that.
However, he did reach George Steinbrenner on the night the Yankees won their 27th World Series title.
“I was lucky enough to talk to him and congratulated him,” Torre said.
Torre plans on talking to Rodriguez and has spoken to The Boss. That’s not the case with GM Brian Cashman.
“I have not spoken to Brian. We spoke a couple of times before the book came out and he took some stuff out of that book, he took it a way that I certainly didn’t think he should have,” Torre said.
Before Torre spoke, Cashman elected not to comment on his relationship with Torre.
In its second year, Yankee Stadium has no Torre presence. And though he isn’t counting out a visit at some point, he would love to bring the Dodgers there in the World Series. But he is not pining to take a look.
And, no, he doesn’t view his situation like Yogi Berra’s extended absence from the Yankees family.
“I couldn’t get away with that,” Torre said. “Yogi can get away with that.”
Tonight at Dodger Stadium, Torre not only sees the Yankees live for the first time since his departure, he has to manage against the defending world champions and current AL East leaders.
The first time Jeter met Torre in 1996 he called him “Mr. Torre.” Later it was shortened to “Mr. T.” Today, Jeter is a baseball icon and on the same Cooperstown track as Torre, and he can’t call him Joe. According to Torre, Jeter lately has called him, “Buddy.”
“I was 21 and coming up, it was out of respect,” said Jeter, who is 36 tomorrow. “He has been like a father figure to me.”
Though there is a degree of awkwardness between Torre and the organization, his former players aren’t shy about sharing their love.
In 1999, Steinbrenner had tired of Pettitte and instructed Cashman to see what he could get for the lefty hurler. According to a Phillies source, Torre lobbied against the deal.
“He has supported me through good times and bad,” Pettitte said. “They wanted to trade me and he stuck his neck out for me and that means a lot to me.”
“He is like a father figure to me, he took care of me like I was his own child,” Posada said.
george.king@nypost.com