Torre's job is bringing Dodgers to heal

Jeff Kent spends 20 minutes working on a swing with Andy LaRoche.

Nomar Garciaparra spends quiet moments joking with locker neighbor James Loney.

Everybody watches Matt Kemp's baserunning blunder, and nobody says a word.

So far this spring, the Dodgers veterans and kids look nothing like the factions whose ugly September fight cost a team its season and a manager his job.

"This is family again," Loney says.

But look closely. Listen carefully.

The same ingredients that exploded in last year's turmoil still exist.

The same competing interests. The same diverse opinions. The same short fuses.

In one corner are veterans at the end of their Dodgers careers.

In the other corner are kids at the threshold of their Dodgers careers.

The Dodgers are family right now, sure, anybody can be a family when life is a lazy exhibition.

But come opening day, it could all change at the drop of a fly ball, and they all know it.

"Nobody can sit here and tell you it won't happen again, nobody knows that," said pitcher Derek Lowe. "People don't change. People are who they are. It's all about making the right choices."

Late last season, the kids made the choice to laugh too loudly and run too easily and seemingly care too little.

The veterans made a choice to rip them for it.

This year's clubhouse has the same youthful energy with potentially five kid contributors in Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin.

This year's clubhouse also has the same veteran edginess, with Kent, Lowe and Garciaparra all in the final years of their contracts.

So what's to keep it from blowing up again?

"Experience," said Jeff Kent.

"Winning," said Juan Pierre.

"Hmmmm," said Joe Torre.

Experience and winning would help, but the answer can be found in the "Hmmmm."

Yeah, this is all about Joe Torre.

This is what he must do. This is a reason why he is here.

Torre is not just a manager, he's a soother, a fixer, a closer.

Where other managers blink, Torre shrugs.

Where other managers scream, Torre just shows up.

He was hired not only for his resume, but his gravitas. The kid-veteran conflict is still so fresh and tender, it can only be squashed by this giant presence.

Amazingly, Torre has not said one word to his team about last year's problems.