COOPERSTOWN — You can’t forget the Boss.
On the greatest day of his baseball life, Joe Torre made a rookie mistake in his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech, forgetting to thank George Steinbrenner on Sunday in front of about 50,000 fans at the Clark Center.
Not to mention 49 other Hall of Famers.
“I feel terrible, I’m very upset,” an ashen-faced Torre said. “I was with Hal [Steinbrenner on Saturday] night and I gave all my accolades. But being with the Yankees, you don’t get accepted without George’s acceptance.
“As soon as it was over, I turned around and said, ‘I forgot George.’”
Imagine that. He thanked dozens of people, including, his family and players over the course of his 28-minute, 8-second speech but not the Boss or the Steinbrenner family.
In the post-ceremony press conference, Torre immediately corrected his mistake — and that speaks volumes about the former Yankees manager who won six pennants and four World Series.
“As soon as it was over, I turned around and said, ‘I forgot George.’”
- Joe Torre
Before one question was asked, Torre took the microphone and said, “I missed mentioning and thanking the most obvious guy in the world when you talk about the Yankees. I mentioned George, but my plan was to thank him and the fact that we had a great relationship. It was so obvious that I was going to do it that I went right past it, the whole Steinbrenner family, it was the proudest time in my whole career and I just feel terrible that I omitted that.”
So if George, who died in 2010, were still alive and Torre forgot him, what would the Boss say?
“That would have made me feel better,” Torre said. “At least he would have yelled at me, ‘You ungrateful such and such.’”
Torre smiled, but it was clear he was still upset.
On Aug. 23, the Yankees will retire Torre’s number. You can be sure he will start off thanking the Boss and the Steinbrenner family.
Asked what Steinbrenner meant to him, Torre said, “For all those people that think when you are 55 years old that you are sort of on the back ends of things, starting at 55 are the best times of my life and the most important times of my professional life.”
Steinbrenner gave Torre that opportunity.
“He was tough but he was always there,” Torre said. “I played for owners who were there sometimes, George was there and he didn’t miss a trick. I remember Don Mattingly telling me he just felt that George kept the edge for everybody.”
During his speech, Torre mentioned how he got the Yankees job, first being offered the general manager’s position, but he didn’t want any part of that. Then came the call for managing.
“The call comes from George Steinbrenner, who says, ‘You’re my man.’” Torre said. “Well, I know George’s history, and I know my brother Frank said, ‘You’re crazy,’ but I knew if I was ever going to find out if I could do this stuff, this was going to be my best opportunity.”
That was it for Boss talk in the speech.
“I knew we had rough patches when I left there,” Torre said about the nasty Yankees divorce in 2007, “but I don’t think either one of us knew how to say goodbye. But I came back for George’s memorial and it’s been fine ever since and I feel very comfortable over there.
“They made my whole professional life,” Torre said of the Boss and the Yankees.
“I had a pretty good playing career and all that, but managing the Yankees was really what you set out in baseball to do is get to the World Series and to have the opportunity to do that with George so many times was an incredible feeling.”
Turns out, Torre was on the right track early in his speech, saying to cheers, “Might as well cut to the chase. I’m here because of the New York Yankees.”
If only he had added…“and the Boss.”
His special day would have been perfect.