Joe Torre Quotes

In regards to steroids, I think we’re all to blame, all of baseball. I never realized how far-reaching this problem has been.

Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It’s about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result.

St. Louis has always been special to me.

My 12 years in New York were very, very special, the fans were very special, and it’s something I will take with me wherever I go and into retirement.

As a player, to me the Dodgers were the Yankees of the National League because… you either loved them or you hated them.

One thing you have to realize is that cancer is not something you necessarily cure, but you want to just take care of yourself and extend your life as long as you can.

When I became the manager of the New York Yankees, it was an opportunity to realize my lifelong dream of winning the World Series. We were fortunate enough to succeed in our first season in 1996, and in the years that followed, we wrote some great new chapters in Yankee history.

I think there’s more of opportunity to win games in the National League than the American League because there are more decisions to make.

I think that winning creates chemistry, as opposed to other way around. I’ve been on a lot of friendly teams that couldn’t win, trust me.

Even though I was never a Yankee fan until I put on the uniform, when you think about the deep history of this organization, you always knew what the Yankees represented.

Whatever sport you’re looking at, it’s usually the team that makes the least mistakes that has the most success.

With negotiations, you never know what’s going to happen.

There’s only one New York.

Stress is something that is sort of out of your control. You get stressed out over looking at the finish line. Stress is something that is an outside thing. Stress is an anxiety.

You hear the word ‘cancer,’ it scares you. You think of death.

When you’ve been in the game as long as I have, you know the managers you’ve played for, the good ones and the bad ones. Even the good ones get fired.

That’s what I’d like to think that my reputation is – being honest.

It just feels good to beat the world champs to be the world champs.

Baseball has always been filled with negative statistics.

When I was a player and hit into a double play, I felt as if I was letting everyone down.

My wife accuses me – and she’s probably right – that I’m sometimes oversensitive.

I think that I have a sensitivity toward people, and that is a strength.

You have to fix something when it first appears.

That’s the sign of a good relationship, when you can pick up a phone and it doesn’t matter when the last time you spoke was.

…in my book success and winning are not always the same thing. To me, success is playing – or working – to the best of your ability.

The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they’re not satisfied with what you’re doing.

Umpires sometimes have a quick trigger.

I won’t be managing the Mets. I am closing the door on managing the Mets and probably everybody else.

My greatest talent is calmness and being positive. I concentrate on what you can do even in the worst of times. You don’t judge by last week’s errors or lost opportunity.

It’s my job that if somebody wants to have a discussion about something, I’m certainly sensitive to that, and I’m willing to do it.

Major league baseball is about the history of the game. Baseball history is so important. It’s so much more than money.

You look at a guy who’s being brave. He’s afraid, or he wouldn’t be brave. If he isn’t afraid, he’s stupid.

We’ve got to decide, how much replay do we want? Because if you start doing it from the first inning to the ninth inning, you may have to time the game with a calendar.

You get to the big leagues, and you think, ‘Can I do this stuff?’ Then you take the first pitch down the middle for Strike 1, and you think, ‘I could have hit that.’

When I was 16 years old, my brother Frank said, ‘You’d better become a catcher, because you’re too big and fat to do anything else.’ Well, I took his advice. It was a quick way to get to the big leagues, and I’ve never regretted it.

Respect is the word I want. You have to earn it. You give, and you get it in return, that’s how I see it.

I played for 18 years, but the only thing that meant anything to me was the World Series.

Every place where I played or managed is special to me because of the memories and the friendships that each afforded me.

‘Million Dollar Arm’ touches on many of the Safe At Home Foundation’s core values, such as children, teamwork and family.

You could have the bases loaded, and you bring up the best pinch-hitter in the world to pinch hit, he hits into a double play, and then all of a sudden: ‘How could you do that?’

First of all, you want umpires to call what they see. In the case of fair or foul, the smartest thing is to call the ball fair. Because if it’s called foul and ruled fair, where do we put the runners?

I felt there was a lot of love in my house. And my mom was, you know, the basis of all that.

TV is not accurate.

Jerry Coleman was the kind of player who made me proud to wear the pinstripes.

I never concerned myself with other people’s decisions.

People are proud of their players.

I believe anybody who is not afraid to fail is a winner.

As a supporter of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and their Home Run Challenge program, I am extremely grateful for the valuable partnerships and relationships built with Major League Baseball and our affiliates.

Baseball has changed dramatically since I began my tenure with the Yankees.

We can learn from past failures and mistakes, but we shouldn’t get stuck there. We can keep future goals in mind, but we shouldn’t get stuck there, either. The only way to reach our potential is to focus on what we must do now – this moment, this day – to perform effectively and win.

I am deeply saddened and shocked at the loss of umpire Wally Bell.

When I was coming home from school as a youngster, and I saw my dad’s car in the driveway, I would go to a friend’s house. I connected my dad being there with fear.

Chicago is a pretty good town.

To wind up in Cooperstown is surreal for me. To go into the Hall of Fame is one thing. When you think of all the other Yankees that are in here, it’s pretty special. This is just a shrine. To visit it, much less be inducted, it’s still sort of unbelievable to me.

I was always a little hesitant to accuse people of loading a bat to hit a ball farther. I was always very hesitant to approach people because I never had any evidence that I had firsthand knowledge of.

It’s something you hope doesn’t happen. When you sign on to do a job, you hope you’ll be able to get it done. But that’s not always in your control.

I feel very fortunate to have broken in with the Milwaukee Braves organization.

I don’t think there’s any player that’s more talented than Alex Rodriguez. He cares very deeply about doing well. Baseball is his life. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.

The Dodgers to me are the Yankees of the National League.

I have great confidence in Rick Caruso’s unique qualifications and his ability to lead a successful bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

We all have different ways to do things.

At 7-1, your pitching has obviously controlled that other team. At 16-10, I’m not sure when it’s safe.

I can understand the fact you don’t want the ball slipping out of a pitcher’s hand because someone can get hurt.

I hated the Yankees and Dodgers and wound up managing both.

I met Tiger Woods, and I looked in his eyes – and I saw Derek Jeter. They don’t have to tell people they’re good. They just prove it by the way they love the competition.

When we lost, I couldn’t sleep at night. When we win, I can’t sleep at night. But, when you win, you wake up feeling better.

When we lost I couldn’t sleep at night. When we win I can’t sleep at night. But when you win, you wake up feeling better

If a club is winning, you never pay attention to a guy who’s 0-for-10. If a club is losing, all of a sudden you’ll find that he’s the main reason why you’re losing, which is absurd for me.

I have no problem with cheating. Whatever you can get away with.

A winner is somebody who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished.

The second you think you’ve arrived, someone passes you. You have to always be in pursuit.

I don’t have a great deal of stress job-wise in my life, and that feels good.

If I intimidate people, that’s not my intention.

When you take a job, you don’t just accept the pats on the back. You have to accept the kicks in the pants.

I’m not very complicated.

Sometimes they say the world rotates a little different for lefthanders.

It’s huge. You win the first game of the series, you want to win the series.

There is no worse emotion than fear.

Spring Training is a fun time for me.

Golf is the only game I know where you call a foul on yourself.

Baseball, while you’re doing it, you think it’s going to last forever.

It’s not easy to just say you don’t want to do something any more.

You’re always in the storm’s eye, so to speak, when you’re with the Yankees.

Unless you have bad times, you can’t appreciate the good times.

Every time I pull somebody out of the bullpen, I believe he can do the job. I have to believe it. If he doesn’t, hopefully he will do it the next time.

Don’t be afraid to fail, encourage your talent, and use your heart. And never be unprepared

Baseball is a game of life. It’s not perfect, but it feels like it is.

There will be a time when everyone on the team is going to contribute to winning a pennant.

Watching other teams in the World Series is like watching somebody else eat a Hot Fudge Sundae.

My relationship with George Steinbrenner was great. He was the boss, and I accepted that.

In baseball, you’re always moving people around.

Scott Boras, I’ve known for a long time. We were both in the Cardinals organization. I’m a lot older than Scott. He’s a very tough man, very tough agent.