"Maybe the good Lord was just waiting for me to put on the
pinstripes."
When Joe Torre was fired as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in
1995, he thought his career in baseball was over. After more than
three decades and
4,200 games as a player and manager, one thing had always eluded
him--winning a World Series.
He had all but given up his dream when the New York Yankees made
him an offer to manage their 1996 club. Encouraged by his wife and
others, he accepted, and so began one of the greatest seasons in
the fabled history of the New York Yankee franchise and one of the
most inspiring, heartwarming stories in all of
baseball.
Here is the ultimate insider's record of that unforgettable season
by the man whose personal struggles captured the hearts and
imaginations of fans
everywhere. Tough, gritty, but always fair and honest, Torre
vividly reveals how he turned a potentially volatile mix of
talented youngsters such as Andy
Pettitte and Derek Jeter, seasoned veterans like Wade Boggs and
Paul O'Neill, and so-called "problem" players like Darryl
Strawberry and Dwight Gooden into a cohesive unit that cared more
about winning than personal egos. He explains how he played his
hunches and earned his team's confidence and respect as he
focused his players from spring training on toward one goal: the
World Series. And he did it all in a pressure-filled sports city
that expects nothing less
than a champion.
But how he did it is only part of this remarkable story. For at the
same time that Torre was overcoming the odds on the field, his
family was facing much
greater hardships off the field. He speaks candidly and emotionally
of the tragedy of his oldestbrother Rocco's sudden death, and the
agonizing ordeal of
his other older brother, Frank, who waited for the heart transplant
that could save his life. It was his wife, Ali, who gave him the
faith to believe
anything was possible. Together with his sisters Rae and Sister
Marguerite, a nun from Queens, they dared to dream the impossible.
In a fairy-tale ending
not even the best Hollywood scriptwriter could imagine, Frank Torre
got his new heart the day before the Yankees won their first World
Series championship
since 1978--and Joe Torre won his first ever.
Here is Joe Torre's own story--told for the first time in his own
words--from his early childhood in Brooklyn, to his celebrated
baseball career playing with the likes of Hank Aaron and Bob
Gibson, to his stint as the first native New Yorker ever to manage
the Yankees. Offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at a season to
remember and a man who went through so much to reach the pinnacle
of his profession, "Chasing the Dream is more than just another
sports
story. It is a poignant reminder of why we love the game--and how,
sometimes, nice guys do finish first.
"From the Hardcover edition.
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