[Alberta's Child]

Oddly enough, I think George Steinbrenner was in Joe Torre’s corner throughout this whole ordeal. Joe specifically mentioned that there were “two people” from the team’s management group that were pushing for them to do whatever it took to rehire him, and my instincts tell me that those two were George Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman.

[longjack]

"Oddly enough, I think George Steinbrenner was in Joe Torre’s corner throughout this whole ordeal"

The name leading the anti-Torre campaign that I'm hearing is Randy Levine.

Joe's downfall, also according to critique I've read, is his bullpen management.

12 years is a long time, and it is probably time for a change.

Unfortunately, the 'low-ball' offer of a one-year contract, designed to force a resignation rather than fire someone outright, is a wimpy way to make the move, and not what a manager the caliber of Joe Torre deserves.

[Michael.SF.]

In responding to another poster I came across this interesting tid bit from Steinbrenner's Wikipedia bio:

"We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned," said Steinbrenner, according to an article in The New York Times reporting on the sale. "We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships."