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Tunnel vision Torre makes tough decisions for sake of winning
By Stephen Cannella, Sports Illustrated NEW YORK -- On Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before Game 4, Joe Torre was asked if his loyalty to his players ever affected the way he managed a game. "I've never let my feelings toward someone affect my judgement," the Yankees manager said. Minutes later he responded to another question about his managerial decisions by saying, "You can't allow yourself to manage so you can answer the questions you'll be asked after the game. You have to manage the way you feel you have to to win the game." Torre didn't quite contradict either statement Wednesday night, when the Yankees took a 3-1 series lead and brought themselves to the brink of a third consecutive world championship, but his handling of left-hander Denny Neagle demonstrated that his judgement is affected when a player hasn't completely won his loyalty.
Torre, who didn't announce Neagle as his Game 4 starter until Monday afternoon, pulled the left-hander from the game after he retired the first two hitters of the fifth inning. The Yankees were clinging to a 3-2 lead and Mike Piazza, who two innings earlier accounted for both of the Mets' runs with a home run, was on his way to the plate. Neagle had set down seven of the eight hitters he had faced since Piazza's blast; still, Torre called on David Cone to face the Mets catcher. "I didn't know Joe was coming out until I turned around to get the ball back," said Neagle. "I thought he was coming out to talk about the situation, to remind me not to give Piazza anything that could tie the game up. When he reached for the ball, I was shocked." It's hard to second-guess Torre, but it's unlikely he would have made a change had a pitcher who had won his confidence -- witness Orlando Hernandez's 134-pitch effort in Game 3 -- been on the mound. The move worked -- Cone got Piazza on a weak popup to second -- but the decision was an amateur psychologist's dream. Cone, who had pitched but one inning in the postseason, was thought to be Wednesday's likely starter before the Monday announcement, and Torre implied that Game 4 would be very much a tag-team effort between Neagle and Cone. Torre's edginess with Neagle on the mound was obvious in both of the left-hander's previous postseason starts; Neagle, who went 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA after joining the Yankees in July, lasted a total of just 10 innings in two outings against the Mariners in the ALCS. Those just happened to be the Yankees' only two losses of the series. "I feel like I was pitching well enough to stay in the game," said Neagle, who gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three in his 4 2/3 innings of work. "When you play for a team longer, the manager gets used to seeing you pitch. Joe isn't used to seeing what kind of jams I can get out of. Unfortunately for me, what was on his mind then was that Mike hit the two-run homer." That had apparently been on Torre's mind for a while -- he said after the game that Cone knew before the inning started he would be the one pitching to Piazza. "Denny was definitely disappointed," Torre said. "I saw the look in his eye. But it's something that if I hadn't done it and something bad happened, I never would have been able to forgive myself." Cone's appearance lasted just one batter -- he was pinch hit for the following inning. Unless he works again in relief later this week, this was likely his final World Series appearance, maybe his last as a Yankee. After a dreadful season in which he went 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA and dislocated his shoulder, the 37-year-old right-hander isn't likely to be re-signed by the Yankees. "This [Shea Stadium] is kind of where I learned to play the game, from guys like Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter," said Cone, who began his career as a Met. "I've come full circle, I guess." Neagle, too, is an unlikely returnee to the pinstripes. His performance down the stretch indicated as much, and Torre's quick hook on Wednesday all but confirmed it. "I'm not thinking about that now," he said outside the Yankees dugout early Thursday morning, forced to conduct interviews there because the visitors' clubhouse flooded during the game. "I'm just thinking about Andy Pettitte winning tomorrow night and then jumping on that pile."
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