As David Wells walked past Joe Torre outside the Yankees clubhouse after yesterday’s Old-Timers’ Day game, he shook his former manager’s hand and congratulated him on his special day.
“Teary-eyed,” Wells said of Torre’s reaction to the 2-minute, 34-second ovation Torre received from the 47,894 fans at Yankee Stadium. “It was a great ovation.”
Torre said that in the old Yankee Stadium he could feel the “heartbeat” of the fans. On this day at the new ballpark, the fans poured out their hearts to the manager who brought four World Series titles to The Bronx.
“It was a heartfelt, heart-warming situation that will stay with me forever,” Torre told The Post.
This was Torre’s first Old-Timers’ Day as an invited guest, his first time back in pinstripes since that playoff loss to the Indians on Oct. 8, 2007.
“Joe deserved this show of love,” Joe Girardi, his successor and former player, said after the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Rockies.
“I think it was great that he came back. He meant so much to all of us in that room, and I’m not just talking about players, I’m talking about coaches, clubhouse people. He’s been there for us.”
Noted Bernie Williams of the outpouring of love: “This was well deserved.”
The bad feelings are gone, and Torre was overwhelmed by the show of love, saying, “I didn’t expect it to go on and on and on, but I certainly appreciated it. I’ve run into Yankee fans all over the country and they just say, ‘Thank you.’ This was really great. I’m just glad I had the opportunity to do this.
“It’s not like I needed this for any kind of closure,” Torre said. “This is a day that is going to stand alone for me.”
Torre, who will turn 71 next month, has moved on. He loves his new job as MLB’s VP of baseball operations. He has no desire to manage, again even though Jack McKeon is back managing at the age of 80.
When asked if he might get the itch to manage again, Torre answered, “No, I’m very comfortable with my decision. When it got past spring training, and I didn’t have the desire to be there, it was just time.”
No one knows the heartbeat of Derek Jeter like Torre.
“I remember calling him in after his first year,” Torre said. “He won Rookie of the Year, we won the World Series. He’s single, good-looking, in New York.
“I called him in just to see if his priorities were still in the right place. He gave me all the right answers.”
And when that day someday comes when Jeter hits the end of the road, Torre said, the shortstop will do what’s best for the team.
“I think Derek is going to be of a mind that if he doesn’t feel that he can help you, he’s going to do something else,” Torre said.
Torre had arranged his schedule so he could see Jeter get his 3,000 hit, but Jeter, who turned 37 yesterday, strained his right calf and is in Tampa rehabbing.
“Why not Derek Jeter?” Torre said of Jeter’s quest to be the first Yankee to 3,000. “What he’s meant to this franchise and how consistent he has been to this franchise as far as his hunger to win, I think that exemplifies this whole organization. I don’t care how old he is, but he will always scare an opposing manager.”
Said Jorge Posada of Torre’s pinstriped return: “He’s a special man. I’m glad everything with the Yankees has passed and he was able to be here today.”
“This is a tough job to say goodbye to, unfortunately it wasn’t pretty,” Torre said of his Yankees divorce. “But everything is gone now. It’s very comfortable for me now. I’m enjoying coming here. My time here was very special, and winning the World Series, especially the first, here in my hometown, it will never get old for me.”
Coming home never gets old.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com