Top 70 Joe Torre Quotes

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.

You know, Mike Milken, the money that he has raised for cancer research has been remarkable.

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

Baseball is a team sport played by individuals for themselves.

After you manage the Yankees for 12 years, it’s really tough to envision going somewhere else. But then the Dodgers called.

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.

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.

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

I never concerned myself with other people’s decisions.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

TV is not accurate.

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.

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.

My father wasn’t the best role model to me.

Home-plate collisions are something you cannot ignore.

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

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.

When you’re in a slump, you do something different, just to try it. I remember one time I was in a slump, and I borrowed one of Henry Aaron’s bats and hit two homers. I used my own bats the next night. I just needed a change.

By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief.

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

There’s nothing that can replace the feeling of winning.

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 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.’

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

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.

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.

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

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

There is no worse emotion than fear.

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

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

We all have different ways to do things.

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 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.

I’ve been very, very fortunate. I never had to work for a living.

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

I’m a very private person, and I don’t want to share stuff with anyone.

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

In baseball, you’re always moving people around.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I knew what the Dodgers uniform represented as a kid growing up in Brooklyn.

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.

If you do the best you can, you never have to look back.

We’ve beat up our umpires. They’re now allowed to be human.

I just don’t like to dwell on stuff.

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

Baseball has always been filled with negative statistics.

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

There’s only one New York.

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.

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

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.

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

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

I’ve enjoyed my time in the American League, the fans of Southern California and other friendships.

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

It’s nice to have writers write nice things about you and guys on radio and TV say nice things about you, but the guy who’s in the locker next to you is the one you play the game for.

Getting fired is what happens to a manager sooner or later.

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?’

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