Joe Torre likes passion of incoming Mets owner Steve Cohen
Former Yankees and Mets manager Joe Torre said of Mets icomiing owner Steve Cohen, he has a "passion for being involved." Credit: Getty Images/Rich Schultz
Joe Torre was the Mets manager through some of the darkest times in franchise history from 1977-’81 and was the Yankees manager during their late 1990s-early 2000s dynasty.
So the Hall of Famer knows what incoming Mets owner Steve Cohen is up against in trying to bring today’s Mets up to the Yankees’ level in terms of two important aspects: spending and winning.
"It sounds like he’s pretty passionate about it," Torre said of Cohen, who is hoping to complete his purchase of the Mets on Friday.
Torre said on Thursday that he knows Cohen "casually" from Cohen’s support of Torre’s "Safe at Home Foundation" and other charitable endeavors. Cohen is a minority owner of the Mets and, in 2011, tried to buy the Dodgers, where Torre managed from 2008-’10. So the two traveled in the same baseball circles.
"It sounds like — like I say, I don’t know Steve Cohen very well — but it sounds like he has a passion for being involved," Torre said. "His name had popped up every time a team would seem to be for sale. I think he was in the hunt for the Dodgers when they were being sold."
Torre worked under a Mets regime that didn’t spend big and was concerned about trying to keep up with the Yankees. Torre recalled then-Mets chairman M. Donald Grant once asking him to start Tom Seaver in a Mayor’s Trophy exhibition game against the Yankees.
"It’s one thing to win," Torre said of the Mets. "And the other thing was the Yankees were across town. I was on both sides of that thing and realizing how important it was to beat the other team. The Mets are sort of in two leagues: one to compete in the National League and the other to compete against the Yankees in getting the attention."
And, of course, Torre also knows all about working for an owner who likes to be "involved," as George Steinbrenner was. It’s too early to speculate on whether Cohen will behave like The Boss, but Mets fans are sure hoping the billionaire spends like him.
"When I first took the Yankees job, at least I knew I’m not going to be short on personnel," Torre said. "George was just driven that way. I guess time will tell with Steve Cohen."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
