It keeps pulling me back in

Just grabbing a great quote from former Yanks (and Rangers, D'Backs) manager Buck Showalter, regarding Torre's book (emphasis mine):

"I'd have to make up my mind that for sure I wasn't going back on the field before I ever wrote one," Showalter said. "I have feelings about it. Obviously I haven't done it. There's a certain privilege to having those jobs that you have to live up to."

Well said. That role is a privilege, an honor. What Torre did is a dishonor to his trusted role and responsibilities.

In case I need to say it again for clarity: I don't care as much about WHAT he said. It could all be true. What bothers me is that he did this as an active manager. And that he did it TO the team that put 4 World Series rings on his hand, turning him from "Clueless Joe" into "Saint Torre".


UPDATE (1/30/09, 11am): In Buster's latest today, he has some good quotes from current front office staff about the Dead Torre Scrolls.

"The big question I'd have for him is: Why?" said a National League general manager. "Why would he put his name to something like that? If [Tom] Verducci writes it in his own book, that's something different. But you have all these people getting [slammed] … and why? For money? Is it to prove a point? Does he have an axe to grind? It doesn't make sense. I'm interested to see what he says."

Said another GM: "We all have stories like that, about different guys. But why would he want that stuff out there, with his name attached to it? I know this: If I were playing with the Dodgers, I'd be running in the other direction, because you don't know what he's going to write when he puts out, The Dodgers Years."

Whether it was his intention or not, Torre has hurt a lot of former colleagues, some of whom feel he has either been inaccurate or ungracious in his portrayals, depending on the anecdote.