Sports

OLDER JOE BRINGS BEST OUT OF TWENTYSOMETHINGS

LOS ANGELES – I know one reason Joe Torre had to go as Yankees manager and be replaced by a man two decades his junior in Joe Girardi was because the team wanted a younger man for a rebuilding effort.

After all, Torre had done such a horrible job with young players. Well, of course, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera blossomed under his watch, but who could have messed that up?

And, oh yeah, Jorge Posada was apprenticed into an All-Star catcher and Ramiro Mendoza into a vital arm during the dynasty years, but after you eliminate those two guys plus Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson what do you have? Not much outside of the greatest month of Shane Spencer’s life, plus Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang coming directly from the minors to be invaluable in getting the Yankees to the playoffs in 2005.

And Melky Cabrera doing the same thing in 2006. I guess you also have to count that Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy pitched brilliantly for Torre in September 2007 to get the Yankees to the postseason. But really after those dozen or so guys plus Shelley Duncan reenacting Shane Spencer last year, you have to admit Torre’s reputation as a manager who favored veterans and didn’t mix well with youngsters was dead on.

That’s the story and we are sticking to it. Even if Cano, Hughes, Kennedy and Duncan played miserably for Girardi, especially in comparison with Torre. The same even was true for Ross Ohlendorf. But Girardi is younger, and anyone who has been around his crew cut knows he is a guy who speaks a common language with the kids. When I think hip, I think Joe Girardi. It is like having Jay-Z as Yankees manager.

There is nothing kids like more than being run into the ground, stripped of sweets and ignored in their time of need. Every twentysomething is thinking, where can I sign up for that? Who wants a grandfather who has been there, seen that and knows how to read human beings and sense what they need to be motivated when you can have a one-size-fits-all sergeant with the people skills of a porcupine?

I am sure it was just luck that every time the Yankees put a youngster of talent in front of Torre that player generally played well despite the onerous pressure that exists around the franchise. Let’s just assume it was bad luck that Cabrera, Duncan, Hughes and Kennedy all regressed to Triple-A under Girardi’s watch. Hey, Joba Chamberlain pitched well for Girardi, though he did for Torre, too.

Girardi does have September, when Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke and Brett Gardner flashed promise. Of course, Torre has October. In the NLCS, he had five players 26 or younger – Blake DeWitt, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, James Loney and Russell Martin – as part of his everyday lineup, plus five vital pitchers – Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Clayton Kershaw, Hong-Chih Kuo and Corey Wade.

But, heck, those are talented guys who anyone could manage. Except Grady Little. He was in charge of the Dodgers last year, and the divide in the clubhouse between the veterans and those kids was key in undermining Los Angeles’ 2007 playoff aspirations.

Those around the team will tell you Torre’s best work this season was in getting headstrong youngsters to focus better on team goals as a way to deflate some of that clubhouse tension. The organization transitioned away from sour and/or under-performing veterans such as Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Juan Pierre, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny to win the NL West and beat the NL-best Cubs in the Division Series.

Even after last night’s NLCS elimination, the future looks bright, especially if the Dodgers can keep Manny Ramirez to mix with the talented, inexpensive kids. The key will be that the 68-year-old manager not mess it up. Maybe during the winter Torre could call the 44-year-old Girardi and gain insight on how to manage youngsters, because Girardi has had so much extra time this October to think about exactly that.

joel.sherman@nypost