Relaxed Torre excited to be getting back to work

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Having reached retirement age some time ago, Joe Torre had an opportunity to kick back and take it easy, maybe do a little broadcasting to occupy his time.

He got the one phone call that persuaded him otherwise, and now it's time to get back to work.

Forthright and relaxed, Torre expressed excitement about his job as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and sadness over the plight of Roger Clemens on Wednesday during a 55-minute news conference on the eve of spring training. He even had a kind word for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Torre can only hope to start his new job the same way he began his last one, when he managed the Yankees to World Series triumphs in four of his first five years.

"I'm going to do what I do," he said in a packed conference room at Dodgertown, where several New York reporters reminded him of days gone by. "It doesn't guarantee you're going to win. We'll see what success is, you're dealing with a young club.

"It was tough in New York, no question. There was a great deal of pressure involved. I just thought it was time to leave. The Dodgers gave me a new chapter. I've had success; I hope that helps me here."

Success, indeed. In his 12 years as manager of the Yankees, the 67-year-old Torre set a record with 76 postseason victories.

"That's a chapter in my life that I'll be very proud to look back on," he said. "I don't think I have anything to prove."

Torre's teams reached the playoffs only once in his first 14 seasons as manager of the Mets, Braves and Cardinals, and he was fired during the 1981 and 1995 campaigns. But thanks to his success in New York, he ranks eighth on the regular-season wins list with a 2,067-1,770 record.

While the Yankees won, the Dodgers struggled. They have one postseason victory since winning the 1988 World Series, and there was trouble in the clubhouse late last year during a late-season fade that saw them finish fourth in the NL West.

Nevertheless, as Torre put it, when the Dodgers call, you listen. And so, he did -- to the only managerial offer that came in.

Torre signed a three-year, $13 million contract to manage the Dodgers two weeks after walking away from the Yankees when they offered a one-year contract worth $5 million plus $3 million in performance bonuses -- a proposal he termed "an insult."

"I didn't think I needed motivation to win. That's where I felt the insult came from," he explained. "My job is to get my team ready to play baseball. I learned from John Wooden, winning isn't always something you can control."