Dodgers may get more than manager - Joe Torre can't pitch or hit, but if he's hired by L.A., it will show a will to win and a return of celebrity to the dugout.
In the Los Angeles Dodgers' most recent glory days, Tom Lasorda was the face of the team, the manager as celebrity. After a decade of entrusting their team to men without star quality, the Dodgers hope to revive the glory days of manager as celebrity.
The Dodgers announced the resignation of Manager Grady Little on Tuesday, and by the end of the week they are expected to replace him with Joe Torre, the former manager of the New York Yankees.
Torre garnered national acclaim by leading the Yankees to four World Series championships, extending his fame beyond sports by building friendships with public figures as diverse as Rudy Giuliani, Billy Crystal and David Letterman.
"He would give the Dodgers the brand Tommy Lasorda had," veteran Hollywood publicist Hanna Pantle said. "Nobody's had that brand there since Tommy's been gone."
Torre walked away from the Yankees two weeks ago, refusing a pay cut after 12 years on the job. The Yankees won the last of their four championships under Torre in 2000.
The Dodgers won their last championship under Lasorda in 1988, and they have employed five managers in the 12 years since he retired. Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are expected to make Torre the highest-paid manager in baseball, and the biggest star in Dodger blue.
"His brand is bigger than the McCourts," Pantle said. "There are certain people within sports that are that sport. Joe Torre is baseball."
According to baseball sources, the Dodgers have negotiated a three-year contract with Torre, worth about $4 million a year, contingent on the Dodgers reaching agreement with the coaches Torre would like to assist him, including Don Mattingly.
With the Yankees, Torre managed Alex Rodriguez, perhaps baseball's best player. Rodriguez can sign with any team as a free agent and could follow Torre to Los Angeles, but his agent downplayed that possibility.
"Alex enjoyed playing for Joe," Scott Boras said. "He knows him very well. That's all I can say."
In New York, Torre exuded calm above all, a trait that could endear him to Southland sports fans at a time when Kobe Bryant wants a divorce from the Lakers and USC and UCLA football fans are stunned by the fall of their teams.
Baseball fans do not buy tickets to see managers, and the presence of Torre alone cannot transform a fourth-place team into a championship one. Still, sports analysts said Tuesday, the decision to hire Torre could pay off -- literally and figuratively.
