Insiders close to Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez blasted Joe Torre yesterday, saying a new book by the former Bombers manager that characterizes A-Rod as an emotionally needy prima donna is “unequivocally not true” and “one final act of desperation.”
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“None of it’s true, and it’s obviously a ploy to sell books,” said one insider about allegations in “The Yankee Years,” which were first reported in Sunday’s Post.
“It’s just unequivocally not true.”
In his book, Torre says Rodriguez’s teammates referred to the third baseman as “A-Fraud” and claims he had developed a “Single White Female”-like obsession with captain Derek Jeter.
Torre, with co-author Tom Verducci, also describes what he says were fruitless efforts to get Rodriguez emotionally comfortable with being a Yankee.
The book says that although Rodriguez desperately wanted to be accepted by his new teammates after coming to the Yankees from Texas in 2004, he turned them off with his showboating, his insistence on having a clubhouse valet, and his phony nature when dealing with the media.
A Rodriguez insider cracked, “Alex’s reaction is he hasn’t received a signed copy yet.”
Torre did not respond to a request for comment.
Sarcasm aside, the source was scathing about what Rodriguez clearly sees as a bitter act of betrayal by Torre, who left the team in 2007 to become the LA Dodgers’ manager.
“It’s a last-ditch effort, given [Torre’s] diminishing profile,” the source said. “It’s one final act of desperation. He probably realized that he made the single biggest mistake of his career leaving the team.
“Our general feeling on this thing is, is this really the spirit of collaboration that’s really the hallmark of a manager? And the obvious answer is it isn’t,” the source said. “I wonder how his current team would feel about the possibilities of another Torre exposé.”
Torre’s decision to go public with his criticisms of Rodriguez and of General Manager Brian Cashman stunned the Yankee family, because Torre had widely been viewed as entrenched in Bomber tradition and leery of airing dirty laundry outside the clubhouse.
“I’m surprised,” said Hall of Fame Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford. “Joe’s always been nice. He’s still nice. He usually had a way of talking around things. But who knows? . . . I just think he wanted to get a few things clear.”
Another ex-Yankee hurler, Jim Bouton, whose landmark book, “Ball Four,” sparked controversy in 1970 with its disclosure of clubhouse antics, said, “I’d say Joe Torre is the kind of guy you’d have to push pretty far to have him come out and publicly bash you.”
Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon said, “Unfortunately, when books come out, no good comes of it . . . I know Joe has a lot of respect for Alex. I haven’t talked to Joe, but I know what happens when books come out.
“Alex is a great teammate,” Damon said. “We have his back.”
In addition to criticizing A-Rod, Torre’s book accuses Cashman of betraying him in late 2007 by failing to convey the manager’s contract wishes to the Yankees’ principal owners, the Steinbrenner family.
Cashman last night told reporters he was “surprised” when he woke up and saw reports about the book, which The Post purchased off the shelf at a city bookstore.
“My first reaction is to wait and to hear or see what’s in the book. I think it was the smart or right move, because Joe Torre called me from Hawaii” later yesterday, Cashman said. Cashman would not discuss what the two men discussed, but said, “I’m glad he gave me a call.”
“I’ll just say I’m very comfortable with the relationship that I have with Joe Torre and that the Yankees have with Joe Torre.
“He was a fantastic manager. You couldn’t ask for any more than what he did for us,” Cashman said.
Torre’s co-author, Sports Illustrated writer Verducci, gave an interview to his magazine’s Web site in response to The Post’s story, saying, “Joe Torre does not rip anybody in the book. The book really needs to be read in context.
“Anybody who knows Joe, especially during his time in New York, knows he’s a very honest man and he is very honest in the pages of this book.”
Torre is expected to kick off a book tour in New York next week.