Book excerpt: Torre's distrust of Randy Levine

Well, it appears that my disdain and distrust of Yanks President Randy Levine was shared by Joe Torre (in third person):

On How the Yankees Do Business
If Torre’s relationship with some of the higher-ups in the Yankee organization was sometimes strained, the book suggests that it was most difficult with Randy Levine, the Yankees president. The book paints a stark picture of a genuine, trusting Torre clashing with the savvy, calculating Levine, who was at one time a trusted adviser of Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Torre was particularly disturbed, it seems, by Levine’s willingness to find a way to avoid honoring the contracts of players struggling with issues off the field. As the book puts it, “The Yankees’ reaction to a player in crisis often included exploring the possibility of getting out from under the responsibility of having to pay the player.”

Good ol' Randy. Endearing himself to the lower ranks for decades.