Yankees Eliminated, Bell Tolls for Torre
What happened at Yankee Stadium last night, after the Yankees lost to the Indians 6-4 in the fourth game of the American League division series and the fans were filing mournfully out of the stadium?
George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' principal owner, who had tied Torre's future to the outcome of this series, was said to be fuming in his office and left without taking questions, ushered away by his daughter.
In his postgame news conference, Torre choked up when talking about how badly his players wanted to win. He does not have a contract for next season, and he spoke with a sense of finality.
"This ball club, they have a great future," Torre said, adding later: "This has been a great 12 years. Whatever the hell happens from here on out, I'll look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure."
And this despite several Yankees' pleas to the press in his defense. But when the bitterness was not running cold it was running hot:
Of his contract status, [Mariano] Rivera said: "They had an opportunity and they did nothing with me, so we'll see what happens. This is a business, and I'm going to treat it like a business."
