Not every baseball man has time for a full-length interview with Landon Evanson, but most do find time to send a thoughtful written response to a single question – for example, what was the highlight of your offseason?  That’s what we asked former Yankees manager turned MLB exec Joe Torre, and here’s his unedited response…

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Dear The Spitter,

I’ve been real busy this offseason.  I led an expedition to Cuba and smoked some cigars and all.  But the highlight was winning a bet with Derek Jeter.  The kid said he thought I was getting soft, that I’d lost my edge.  The hell I have, I says to him.  Prove it, he says.  I says, think of the craziest thing you can think of for me to do, and I’ll do it.  So we made a gentleman’s wager.

That’s how I ended up flying to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, for the Caribbean World Series.  Jeter thought I wouldn’t dress up like His Holiness Pope Francis and go down on the field with a Mexican flag and kneel down in front of home plate.  And now Jeter owes me a dollar.

I haven’t lost my edge.  It was an exhilarating experience, right up there with some of those World Series wins all those years ago.  The Caribbean people are so musical and passionate about the game.  And, no, I wasn’t nervous about dressing up like His Holiness. 

My sister Marguerite is a nun, she said it was totally fine and that His Holiness would be flattered.  Plus, she’s not a big fan of Jeter.  She was always more of a Paul O’Neill gal.

Sincerely,
Joe Torre