Joe Torre

In Sunday's New York Times Book Review, Jill Abramson, the paper's managing editor for news, wrote about Bob Woodward's latest Bush administration book, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008.

Ms. Abramson starts the review explaining the now-typical release process of Mr. Woodward's books:

The Bob Woodward rollout is always strictly scripted. His books are 'held back,' meaning that no advance ­copies are available for reviewers and that pain-of-death secrecy vows are extracted from book review editors. His 'bombshells,' those fly-on-the-wall details from inside the power dome and classified memos impossible to obtain (for all except Woodward), are disclosed in multipart, front-page articles in The Washington Post, where for decades the author was an assistant managing editor. (He is now an associate editor.) Then there is the bump from exclusive interviews on '60 Minutes' followed by more televised amplification, an éclat that almost always results in a No. 1 best seller.

Well, almost. The War Within is number 2 on the list after Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded.  read more »

When actor Chace Crawford worked as a valet in New York, pre-Gossip Girl days, he was terrified when Suge Knight came in with his car (Mr. Crawford made one of the other valets move it!). [Us Weekly] 

Eleanor Wohl will reportedly throw a party on Sunday at her Meadow Lane Estate in honor of Prudential Douglas Elliman chairman Howard Lorber to thank him for helping the Chabad of Southampton in its zoning dispute. [P6] 

Gwen Stefani gave birth to her second son, named Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale--"Afrikan" is very in these days--on Thursday in L.A. [Us Weekly] 

George Steinbrenner and his son Hank are reportedly in talks to put on a show at Yankee Stadium featuring Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney that will rival the farewell shows performed at Shea by Billy Joel.  read more »

Last Friday evening, Dodger manager Joe Torre was sitting in the visitors' dugout at Shea Stadium, fielding questions from about a dozen reporters about his struggling team. The Dodgers, who limped into a New York fresh off a three game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs, had lost the series opener against the Mets by a score of eight to four, stretching their losing streak to four games.  read more »

It is commonly assumed that if Joe Torre had been a free agent, rather than property of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he, and not Willie Randolph, would currently be manager of the New York Mets. That chorus will likely quiet a bit after the Mets completed a 5-2 homestand by defeating the Dodgers Sunday night, 6-1.

But the funny idea of the whole Torre-for-Randolph idea is that there’s no evidence that the aspects of Randolph’s managing that have come under fire most—his lack of demonstrated passion, his deference to veterans and his problems managing his bullpen—would have altered with this particular regime change. After all, Randolph learned his style by Joe Torre’s side as a bench coach for much of Torre’s Yankee tenure.  read more »

BEIJING—March 15 was what people conventionally call a great day for a ball game. A right-handed pull hitter might have disagreed, feeling the strong breeze coming in from the northwest. It was certainly a kind day for red flags, at least in Beijing. Along Chang'an Boulevard, by Tian'anmen Square and the Great Hall of the People, the national flags and accompanying plain red ones stood rippling off their flagpoles, aglow in clear sunlight against the blue sky.

From the other side of the country, in Lhasa, there were reports of flag burnings—and other things burning. It was unclear. The Internet was clogged. YouTube was blocked, and its Chinese counterpart, Tudou, had suddenly announced it was shutting down to work on its servers.  read more »

The Joe Torre era in New York is over. It was “time for the New York Yankees to move forward,” team President Randy Levine explained.  read more »

The New York Post is reporting this morning that George Steinbrenner's sons have taken over daily operations at the New York Yankees ball club.

The New York Post said the details about the control of the franchise will be ironed out at top-level meetings the Yankees are holding this week in Tampa. According to The Associated Press manager Joe Torre's status for next season will be decided during discussions starting on Tuesday morning.

"George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation," team president Randy Levine told the paper.  read more »

• 1 comment

Ultimately, any of these choices represents a downgrade from Joe Torre.  read more »

I just caught Joe Torre's locker room press conference minutes after the Yankees' sudden-death 6-5 loss to the Twins, and it was amazing. It's only the beginning of the season and it was like someone had died. Torre was stricken, stunned and sincere. Some reporter said, Boy Joe, why was this so stinging? Torre looked up at him and said, "The day I stop caring is the day I should stay home," or similar words. Such seriousness of purpose—be like Joe.

October is the ruthless month, October is when I go to Dan for comfort.  read more »

It's wrong, I know,to pray for a baseball team to win. It's selfish, too, given all that  read more »

En RéalitéIn recent weeks, the French reality-TV series Loft Story has become the country's bigges  read more »

In the 1999 baseball season, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre has endured cancer; the near-firing  read more »